bV 483 
.M6 
1911 



1 

OCAL 

AND/O^KK) 

PHYSICAL 
TRAINING 

MONROE 




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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




LEWIS BAXTER MONROE. 



PHYSICAL 

AND 

VOCAL TRAINING 

For School Use and for Private Instruction 



BY 

LEWIS BAXTER MONROE 



Formerly, Superintendent of Physical and Vocal Culture in Boston 

Public Schools. Founder and Dean of Boston University School 

of Oratory, Compiler of "Monroe's Readers," etc. 



WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH AND PERSONAL REMINISCENCES 

Illustrations by Hammat Billings 




EDGAR S. WERNER & COMPANY 
NEW YORK 



Copyright, I860, by Lewis B. Monroe 
Copyright, lull, by Edgar S. V/erner 



^ 



& 



*> 



C CLA280326 



PREFACE. 



Tnrs manual is prepare! in response to repeated requests for 
some written embodiment of the method of Vocal and Physical 
Culture practised by tne writer during the last ten years, and 
taught in the Boston public schools, under his supervision, for 
three years past. It is with no little hesitation that he at- 
tempts the difficult task of conveying by printed words that 
which requires the living voice for its proper exemplification. 

impossible to prescril>e an inflexible course of instruction. — 
one which will not require Ahe ingenuity of the teacher to 
adapt it to individual castfa Nevertheless, even an imperfect 
outline — and this assumes to be nothing more — will serve as 
a guide to those who wish to adopt, to any extent, this mode 
ning. 

r the faults and imperfections in these pages the writer is 
alone responsible : and he would not claim an undue share of 
credit for anything of worth which the work may contain. He 
has availed himself of the labors of the numerous investigators 
who have preceded him in these fields. In common with al- 
most every one who has dealt with the speaking voice during 
the present generation, he is especially indebted to the great 



IV PREFACE. 

work of Dr. Rush on the Human Voice, and to the excellent 
adaptations of his methods by Professor William Russell. He 
would also gratefully acknowledge his personal obligation to 
Professor Alexander Melville Bell of London, foremost among 
English elocutionists of the present day; and to the gifted 
vocal artist Dr. C. A. Guilmette, and Mr. W. J. Parkerson of 
Boston. This list might be indefinitely extended. The writer 
would here, in a word, offer his sincere thanks to all who, by 
instruction, advice, criticism, or patronage, have aided him in 
his work. 

Boston, March 1, 1869. 



TO TEACHERS AND STUDENTS. 

It will not be best to dwell too long on the exercises of 
any one chapter before proceeding to the next. It is well to 
take up almost simultaneously the matters of Position. Carriage 
of the Chest. Breathing, Production of Tone,. Articulation, and, 
to a certain extent. Expression- 



CONTENTS 



Biographical Sketch 
Personal Reminiscences 
A Pupil's Tribute 



CHAPTER I. 

Physical Culture in Schools 



CHAPTER II. 



Hints and Caution: 



CHAPTER III. 
Position and Carriage of the Body 

CHAPTER IV. 
Carriage and Development or the Chest . 

CHAPTER V. 
Breathing and Development of the Lungs . 

CHAPTER VI. 
Control of the Organs of the Throat 



CHAPTER VII. 



Production of Tone 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Vowel Analysis 



Articulation- 



Chapter IX. 



PAGE 
103 

106 
112 

1 

8 

10 
19 
24 
28 
32 
38 
43 



Monroe's Vocal Gymnastics — vii 



V111 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X. 
Slides or Inflections . . . . „ ... 51 

CHAPTER XI. 
Quality of Voice . 56 

CHAPTER XII. 
Force ,59 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Pitch, or Modulation 61 

CHAPTER XIV 
Rate, or Movement ..... ... 64 

CHAPTER XV. 
Stress 67 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Transition . . 74 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Imitative Modulation 79 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Picturing 83 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Selections for Practice in Reading ..... 87 

CHAPTER XX. 
Tables for daily Drill and Review . . . . .94 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



CHAPTER I. 

PHYSICAL CULTURE IX SCHOOLS. 

The beneficial influence of physical exercises in schools is 
now generally acknowledged. Indeed, every well-managed 
educational establishment, of whatever grade, is expected to 
bestow due attention upon this department. The teacher 
who neglects all considerations of health in the training of 
his pupils, while forcing them to the utmost mental acquire- 
ments, is justly considered an enemy rather than a friend of 
those committed to his charge. His excuse is, the false 
standard of public sentiment hitherto prevalent, to which 
he defers ; and which has offered its rewards for mental 
and perhaps moral forwardness at whatever bodily sacrifice. 
The " saints by spiritual law " have been allowed, nay, 
almost expected, to be "sinners against physical law." 

It is only an exaggeration of the same principle which 
induces the Hindoo mother to immolate her offspring in the 
waters of the Ganges. She throws away the body of the 
child for some fancied higher good to come in consequence. 
She has not learned that the Creator's laws are so perfectly 
balanced, that the highest good of the soul is connected 
with the highest good of the body. And there are many, 
even among us, who seem not to admit that mind and body 
are mutually dependent ; that we cannot secure the best 

? A 



2 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

development of the one at the expense of the other. It is 
lamentable to see the evils that have insidiously crept upon 
us as a result of this error, — evils which we will not here 
particularize, but which are only too obvious. 

The ancient Greeks paid the same attention to physical 
as to mental training. Their gymnasia were schools for the 
body and mind ; and the office of Gymnasiarch was one of 
honor and repute. The monuments in art, science, and lan- 
guage which have come down to us more than confirm the 
wisdom of their educational methods. Is it not a strange 
inconsistency on our part, that, while we pay such tributes 
to their excellence, we ignore the means by which that 
excellence was attained ? We praise and copy their statu- 
ary, but seem to forget that the models for these classical 
figures were furnished by then system of physical training. 
We go back to them to-day for our great exemplars in 
oratory. But which of our institutions will carry us through 
the drill which made these men such consummate masters 
cf their art ? 

The reaction has fairly begun ; and it is to be hoped that 
out of the reawakened interest in physical culture will 
grow a system of exercises which shall serve as a substitute 
for, if it does not make good, the training of the Olympian 
days. It is true that in our time the requirements for 
physical strength and endurance are not the same as of old. 
But a sound mind in a sound body must be as important 
now as it ever was ; while the danger of neglecting to keep 
up the proper balance, with our labor-saving machines, our 
changed modes of locomotion, of warfare, and of every- 
thing requiring manual dexterity and bodily strength, is 
greater than ever. 

It devolves upon teachers more than upon others to see 
that the impetus recently given to this subject be not 
lost. They should seek to render the interest already felt 



PHYSICAL CULTURE IX SCHOOLS. 3 

stronger, more genera], and more intelligent. Let them 
make the most of their opportunities for information upon 
the subject. And although the amount of instruction 
afforded in our institutions of learning and in literature 
be at present most insufficient, it will not long remain so. 
An increased demand will bring an increased supply. 
Meantime something should be done, and that something 
should lead to practical results. 

What practical results can we reasonably look for? What 
are the ends to be attained by a system of school exercises? 
Nothing, of course, comparable with the benefits to be 
derived from a thorough course in a weU-furnished gym- 
nastic establishment, such as is to be found in Germany or 
France.* But enough can be accomplished to fully repay 
the time and effort bestowed. And that this end may be 
secured, the teacher should have a definite aim in prescrib- 
ing each movement. It is not sufficient that the pupil is 
taking physical exercise. He must absolutely be gaining 
something. The teacher should learn to distinguish be- 
tween essential and unessential exercises. The thorough 
and persevering practice of a few wisely directed move- 
ments is more beneficial than a random and irregular prac- 
tice of a large number of vague exercises. We repeat, let 
every exercise chosen have a definite aim and practical 
value. 

We here suggest the main pDints to be kept in view in 

* The writer is best acquainted -with the Gymnase Triat, Arenue cfe 
Montaigne, Paris. He can testify from personal knowledge of the bene- 
ficial effects derived from the system of physical training there pursued. 
To a stranger who witnesses the drill of a class for the first time, it seems 
absolutely incredible that a majority of the sturdy gymnasts performing 
those feats of agility and strength were at the time of their entrance weak 
and debilitated. The transformation, in a few months, of invalids into 
: men, seems fully to justify the claims made by If. Triat, when he 
places in large letters upon the front of his establishment, Regenzraiiun 
de l" Homme 



4 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

prescribing practice. If a given exercise does not tend to 
promote one or more of these ends, it may be set down as 
comparatively useless. We wish to promote : — 

1. Symmetry of form ; 

2. Proper position and carriage of the body ; 

3. Right habits of breathing ; 

4. Good voice ; 

5. Health. 

We might have included Strength, Endurance, and Agil- 
ity ; but these cannot be made prominent in a school 
course. They require an amount of room, apparatus, and 
time which cannot be afforded. 

I. Symmetry of Form. — Teacher and pupil should 
have in the mind a true ideal of a perfect human form ; 
and they should seek to bring their own forms as nearly to 
this ideal as possible. It is as important for them as for 
the sculptor. True, flesh and bones are not so plastic in 
our hands as the clay model ; still, our forms will yield 
more or less in obedience to well-directed efforts. 

The commonest faults in the forms of the present gener- 
ation are: 1. One-sidedness, — an unequal development 
of the two sides of the body. 2. Hollow chest, which in- 
volves a pitching forward of the shoulders, projection of the 
shoulder-blades, crooking of the collar-bone, and drooping 
of the head. 3. Slender waist, especially in women. 

These peculiarities are neither healthful nor beautiful, 
and only an ignorant mind or a perverted taste would ever 
regard them as such. On the score of health, the distorted 
feet of the Chinese or the deformed skulls of the Flathead 
Indians are less objectionable than the cramped waists of 
our devotees of fashion. As regards beauty, it is hard 
telling which infringes most upon a true ideal. Certain it 
is that a sculptor who should attempt to rival the Venus de 
Medid by presenting a figure in marble modelled after the 



PHYSICAL CULTURE IX SCHOOLS. h 

forms shown in a modern fashion-plate would be derided. 
No portrayal can easily exaggerate the evils which follow in 
the train of these deformities. Teachers cannot perform a 
higher service for their pupils than by leading them to see 
that a beneficent Creator has framed them according to his 
own idea, and that any wilful distortion of their bodies is a 
sin as well as a folly. 

II. Proper Position- and Carriage of the Body. — 
Under this head we include the habits of the pupil in ref- 
erence to sitting, standing, walking, and the movements of 
the body and limbs generally. Ease, dignity, and grace of 
carriage should be cultivated. All exercises which do not 
tend to these ends are of questionable utility. The drill 
motions cannot, from the necessity of the case, be all of 
them intrinsically graceful ; but they should, in a degree, 
satisfy our aesthetic sense, and should tell favorably upon 
the habitual bearing of the pupil. No exercise is desirable 
which requires awkward or unnatural movements. 

III. Right Habits of Breathing. — Good air is one of 
the first essentials in physical and vocal exertion. No one 
can keep the body and mind vigorous for any great length 
of time in impure air. And the most impure air is that 
which is filled with the emanations from the human system. 

The lungs should be trained to free, full, and vigorous 
action. They are, so to speak, the very springs of vitality. 
The more immediate importance of the lungs in the animal 
economy will be brought to mind when we recollect that a 
person may live for days without food ; but to deprive him 
of air, even for a few moments, is to deprive him of life 
itself. If our breathing is imperfect, all the functions of 
body and mind are impeded. In fact, the manner of breath- 
ing at any particular time is almost as good a test as the 
pulse itself of the general state of the system, physical and 
mental 



6 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

One of the commonest faults in the use of the lungs ia 
the habit of breathing as it were from their surface, not 
bringing sufficiently into play the costal and abdominal 
muscles. By watching the domestic animals, — a horse or 
cow, for instance, — we may learn a lesson in breathing. We 
perceive that there is very little motion near the fore ex- 
tremities, but the breath is impelled from the flanks. So 
should we have the main action at the waist and below the 
waist. Any form of dress or belt, therefore, which constrains 
the base of the lungs and presses upon the stomach and 
intestines must do serious harm. 

IV. Good Voice. — Intimately connected with the func- 
tion of breathing is that of vocalization. And it is perhaps 
because the culture of the voice involves the training of the 
lungs, that vocal exercises are so generally acknowledged as 
contributing to health. So great importance did the Greeks 
attach to this feature of human development, that the tyro 
passed through the hands of at least three different masters 
in this department alone before completing his course. One 
master developed the power and range of his voice ; an- 
other improved its quality ; a third taught modulation and 
inflection. And when we consider the bodily functions 
brought into play, and the all-important service rendered 
to the mind, by the voice, we shall not think that they 
overrated this branch of culture. 

The production of voice is a muscular operation. It calls 
into action many organs directly related to the vital econ- 
omy ; and, consequently, every step taken toward perma- 
nently improving the voice is so much done toward building 
up the health and vitality of the general system. "When 
teachers feel that they are improving the reading and sing- 
ing of their pupils while they give them healthful exercises, 
they will not be so likely to consider physical exercises a 
repulsive drudgery, or the practice of them as so much lost 
time. 



PHYSICAL CULTURE IN SCHOOLS. 7 

The faults in voice are too numerous to be specified here. 
The one most prevalent in schools is the hard, unnatural, 
half-screaming tone in which both teachers and scholars 
carry on their recitations. The natural, easy, musical 
quality of voice which marks refined society should be 
cultivated in the school-room from the beginning. Imagine 
a polite person asking a visitor to take a chair, in the tone 
used by scholars in reciting their arithmetical lesson ! Yet 
the forced and stilted tone is as fitting in the one case as in 
the other. It is true, scholars must often speak loudly in 
the school-room ; but the tone may be loud and pleasant at 
the same time. 

V. Health. — This is, humanly speaking, the pearl of 
great price, beside which no other earthly blessing can be 
placed, and without which everything else loses its charm. 
Nowhere in our educational system is there so great a de- 
fect as the failure to secure attention to hygienic laws. 
To cultivate the brain while we neglect the vital system 
is as absurd as to furnish a powerful engine to a frail boat. 
The more we increase the steam power, the more should we 
make sure that the hull is stanch. We rush to destruction 
when we force the engine unduly. Nervous diseases and 
frail constitutions are becoming every day more abundant ; 
and they will continue to increase, till an intelligent hy- 
giene shall furnish the true preventive. Proper habits of 
dress, diet, sleep, cleanliness, and exercise are of infinitely 
more importance to a child than the geography of Siberia 
or the history of the Dark Ages. Yet the latter absorb a 
large share of time in schools where not a word is said of 
the former. May it not be asked with solemn emphasis, 
What shall it profit a child to gain a whole world of book- 
knowledge, if, in gaining it, he forfeits the chief condition 
of earthly welfare, — bodily health 1 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



CHAPTEE II. 

HINTS AND CAUTIONS. 

1. See that you have pure air always, with at least oc- 
casional sunshine, and, if possible, pleasant surroundings. 

2. Be cheerful and enthusiastic. Be in earnest. L r se 
your will. Dull and lifeless exercises are of little use. 

3. Believe that success in this department is quite as 
important as in any other, and act accordingly. 

4. Let there be a military promptness, order, and exact- 
ness in all the movements. 

5. Do not attempt too much at any one time. A few 
exercises performed with intelligence and hearty energy are 
better than a long, listless routine. 

6. Do not be alarmed if you feel a little giddiness or 
faintness as a result of the exercises, especially in breath- 
ing. When these symptoms appear, stop for a few mo- 
ments, and then resume your practice at will. After a few 
days, such sensations entirely disappear. 

7. A little muscular soreness is of no consequence. But 
if positive pain is caused, be more gentle and gradual. 

8. If the pupil have sharp pain in the lungs, especially 
under the shoulder-blades, or should the beating of the 
heart become excessively rapid and irregular, he should be 
very gentle and careful in his practice. These symptoms 
will rarely if ever be induced by any exercises prescribed in 
this volume. If they do appear, it is doubtful whether the 
subject of them is well enough to be in a school-room. 

9. No scraping or irritation of the throat or disposition 



HINTS AND CAUTIONS. 9 

to cough will ensue from the breathing or vocal exercises 
when rightly practised. 

10. On the whole, the exercises should be so conducted 
as to leave the pupils at the close enlivened and ex- 
hilarated. 

11. The ingenious teacher will vary the exercises, so as 
to avoid that sameness which degenerates into lifeless rou- 
tine. Surprise the scholars by unexpected changes, so as to 
keep them on the alert. 

12. Singing or counting aloud by the pupils while exer- 
cising is not as a general thing to be recommended. If 
practised, choose those movements only which act in har- 
mony with the respiratory action. For instance, let a 
person attempt to expel the breath while raising the arms 
for a blow, and inhale while striking violently, he will per- 
ceive that the effort is unnatural Reverse this, and there 
is harmony between the muscular and respiratory action. 

13. Heavy blows on the lungs are to be avoided. Smart, 
percussive blows may be struck on the chest when the lungs 
are filled. 

14. Movements should be such as to completely stretch 
the muscles ; but violent jerkings should be avoided. 

15. The best movements are those which give alternate 
tension and relaxation to those muscles which we wish to 
cultivate. So in the exercise as a whole, there should be 
intervals of complete relaxation and rest. 



!• 



10 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



CHAPTER III. 

POSITION AND CARRIAGE OF THE BODY. 

I. Sitting Position. 

1. Rest the feet fully on the floor, forming an angle 
of sixty degrees. 

2. Sit (not lean) as far back in the seat as possible; 
supporting the lower part of the spine against the back 
of the chair. 

3. Knees bent nearly at 
a right angle. 

-4. Body square to the 
front. 

5. Chest expanded. 

G. Hands fall easily in the 
lap, close to the body, little 
fingers downward. 

7. Shoulders square. 

8. Shoulder-blades flat. 

9. Head erect ; not tipped 
in either direction. 

10. Chin slightly drawn 
Fig. l. in 

11. Raise the form to the full height. 

12. Poise the body slightly forward 

13. Eyes straight to the front. 

14. Ear, shoulder, and hip in line. 

This position should be frequently practised as an ex- 
ercise ; but pupils should be required to remain in it only a 




POSITION AND CARRIAGE OF THE BODY. 



few minutes at a time. The younger the scholars, the 
oftener should they be allowed to change their position. 

II. Poise forward and hark. 

First. Incline slowly forward thirty degrees from the per- 
pendicular, — or till touch- 
ing the desk in front, — 
without drooping the head 
or bending the spine. 

Second. Steadily return 
to position. 

Third. Incline the body 
steadily backward thirty 
degrees, or as far as the 
hack of the chair will ad- 
mit, without bending the 
neck or back. 

Fourth. Slowly return 
to position. F »£- 2 - 

The teacher may regulate the exercise by counting in 
exact time four to each movement. 

III. Head turn right and left. 

First. Turn the herd, which is 
at the same time held erect, to 
the right, till the right eye comes 
in a straight line with the front 
of the shoulder. 

Second. Turn the head front, 
to position. 

Third. Turn, as above, to the 
left. 

Fourth. Turn to position. 

Give the time of two counts to 





Fig. 3. 

each movement, and 



remain fixed during the third and fourth counts. 



12 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



IV. Head bend forward and back. 

First. The chin, without any change in the position of 
the body, is gently moved downward and forward, till the 
face forms an angle of forty-five degrees with the trunk. 





Fig. 4. Fig. 6. 

Second. Raise the head slowly upward to the vertical 
position. 

Third. Move the chin gently upward and backward till 
an angle of forty-five degrees is formed 

Fourth. Extend the head upward to position. 

Time of the movements same as in the preceding exercise. 

V. Head bend right and left. 

First. Bend the head directly to 
the right, till an angle of forty -five 
degrees is formed with the trunk. 

Second. Raise the head slowly to 
the vertical position. 

Third. Bend the head to the left, 
as above. 

Fourth. Return to position. 
Time as in the preceding. 
The foregoing exercises may be practised occasionally with 
a quick motion ; but ordinarily a slow and steady movement 
is to be preferred. 




Kg. e. 



POSITION AND CARRIAGE OF THE BODY. 



13 



VI. Standing Position 

1. Heels in a line, and together. 

2. Feet turned equally outward, 
forming an angle of sixty degrees. 

3. Knees straight. 

4. Body square to the front. 

5. Chest expanded and advanced, 
hut without constraint. 

6. Arms hang easily at the side. 

7. Shoulders equal height. 

8. Shoulder-blades flat. 

9. Head erect, raised at the 
crown, not tipped in any direction. 

10. Chin slightly drawn in. 

11. Form raised to the full 
height. 

12. Body poised slightly forward, 
so that the weight bears mainly on 
the ball of the foot. 

13. Eyes straight to the front. 

14. Whole figure in such a posi- 
tion that the ear, shoulder, hip, knee, 
and ankle are all in a line. 

No pains should be spared to get 
this position exactly ; and the pupil 
should be required to observe its 
main points whenever he stands to 
read or recite, in order to estab- 
lish as a habit an erect and dignified 
carriage of the body. 

Weak children need to be partic- 
ularly cautioned against making the 
back too hollow, and drooping the 
head, 




Fig. 7, 




Fig. 8. 



n 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 




Fig. 9. 




Fig. 10. 



VII. Poise forward and backward. 

First. Carry the weight of the 
body as far forward as possible, with- 
out lifting the heels or bending the 
spine. The ankle joint yields, but 
the other joints remain inflexible. 

Second. Return steadily to po- 
sition. 

Third. Carry the weight of the 
body as far back as possible, so as 
to bear mainly on the heels, but 
without lifting the toes. Spine and 
joints inflexible, as in preceding ex- 
ercise. 

Fourth. Return steadily to po- 
sition. 

Four counts to each movement. 

VIII. Rise on the Toes. 

First. Raise the body gently upon 
the toes by extension of the instep. 
The position of the body remains as 
in the commencing position, the knees 
extended. The trunk and head, kept 
in a straight line with the legs, are 
placed forward during the raising, 
without losing the balance. 

Second. Gently return to position. 
Two counts are required in ascend- 
ing, two while remaining firmly sus- 
pended, two in descending, and two 
while in position. 

The same exercise may be poetised 
rising on one foot at a time. 



POSITION AND CARRIAGE OF THE BODY. 



15 



IX. Body bend forward and 

First. Bend the trunk slow- 
ly forward, the knees remain- 
ing extended, the eyes straight 
forward. Bend only at the 
hip joint, the arms falling nat- 
urally. 

Second. Rise slowly till in 
the upright position. 

Third. Bend the body gen- 
tly backward. The position of 
the head with respect to the 
body remains immovable ; the 
knees remain straight ; the hips 
are pushed a little forward. 

Fourth. Return to position. 

Two counts to each move- 
ment, and two to remain fixed. 

At the discretion of the 
teacher the position of the 
arms may be varied. They 
may be allowed to fall through- 
out the exercise ; or they may 
be supported at the waist 
(akimbo); or they may fall in 
the forward movement, and 
be placed on the hips in the 
backward movement. 

This exercise and the two 
following must be performed 
gently. They have an effect in 
strengthening the muscles of 
the waist and back, and in giv- 
i iii-T an impulse to the diges- 
tive organs. 



back. 




L6 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 




X. Body bend right and left. 

First. Bend the body slowly to 
the right. Both feet remain firm, 
the knees straight ; the right hand 
falls low enough to touch the out- 
side of the knee. 

id. Return to position. 

Third. Bend, as above, to the 
left. 

Fourth. Return to position. 

Time as in preceding exercises, — 
two counts during the first move- 
ment : two, remaining fixed ; two, 
returning to position ; two. remain- 
ing fixed there ; then repeat to the 
left. 



Fig. 13. 

XL Body tarn right and left. 

First. Turn the trunk to the 
right ; legs straight and close, feet 
firm. The head does not turn by 
itself, but moves at the same time 
with the trunk ; and the elbows 
remain in the same position with 
respect to the body as at the begin- 
ning of the movement. 

Second. Return to position. 

Third. Turn to the left as above. 

Fourth. Return to position. 

Time same as the above. 

Nos. X. and XL may be practised 
occasionally in the sitting position ; 
also with the arms extended hon- 
ing, u. zontally. 





POSITION AND CARRIAGE uF THE 



17 



XII. Bead tke Knees. 

Commencing position, on the toes. 

First movement. Bend the knees. 
The body is kept perpendicular, and 
slowly descends till sitting upon the 
heels. 

S nd movement. The knees are 
slowly straightened and the Ixx; 
raised upward, without losing its per- 
pendicular position. 

Four counts to each movement : 
four, remaining fixed. 

This is a somewh - 
and need never be repeated more than 
three times in succession. 

It may be practised also with the - 
arms crossed behind the back. 

XIII. Speaker's Position. 
Throw the weight of the body 
firmly on the left foot, and ad- 
vance the right foot about three 
inches, allowing it to rest lightly. 
with the knee a little bent. 

Reverse this position by throw- 
ing the weight on the right foot, 
and leaving the left easily ad- 
vanced. 

A line dropped through the 

front of the neck will fall on the 

p of the supporting foot. A 

line drawn lengthwise through the 

the advanced foot passes 

ther. 




Fig. 15. 




Ifc M 



18 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



XIV. Holding the Book for reading. 

Hold the book flatly open in 
the left hand with three fingers 
beneath it, and the thumb and 
little finger above, to keep the 
leaf down. 

Advance the elbow a few inches, 
and raise the fore-arm from thirty 
to forty-five degrees, so as to se- 
cure perfect vision without bend- 
ing the neck or body. 

If necessaiy, depress the plane 
of the book so as not to hide the 
face. 

Observe the same general di- 
rections when reading aloud in a 
sitting position. 

XV. Walking. 

The main points of the 
" standing position " must be 
observed in walking ; thus : — 

1. Body erect. 

2. Head raised. 

3. Eyes looking straight 
forward. 

4. Chest active (see Fig. 19). 

5. Arms fall easily, and are 
allowed a gentle, natural swing. 

6. Feet point outward thir- 
ty degrees, 

7. The steps must be reg- 
Wg§jgS^ ular in time and equal in 

Fi-. IS. 




CARRIAGE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHEST. 10 

length, — somewhat as in the military march, but with- 
out rigidity or stamping. 

8. In a quick or ordinary step, the heel of the advanced 
foot strikes the ground first In a very slow and long step 
the outside toes strike first. 

9. All the muscles of the body must be in a state of 
easy, elastic tension. " All lassitude, bending, carelessness, 
falling of the head, dangling of the limbs, bending of the 
trunk, and loose, irregular gazing should be avoided." 



CHAPTER IV 



CARRIAGE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHEST. 



I. Active and Passive Chest. 

Standing position. 

First. Relax the muscles and 
allow the chest to fall listlessly, as if 
fatigued. This is the passive chest. 

Second. Elevate and expand the 
t'hest in a position of dignity and 
self-reliance, somewhat as if defying 
a blow. This is the active chest, 

This exercise should be simply 
muscular, and not depend upon the 
breathing. 

The habit should be established of 
keeping, without restraint, the active 
chest in standing, walking, running, 
and whenever using the voice, — as 
in leading, declaiming, and singing. 




Fivr 10. 



20 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 




II. Percussion of the Chest. 

Place the hands on 
the chest with the fore- 
fingers just below the 
collar-bones, fore-arms 
horizontal. Take a deep 
inspiration through 
the nostrils. Hold the 
breath. 

Ksa». &„£. strike on the 

chest rapid percussive blows with the flat of the fingers ; 
the wrists being slack. Time, four counts. 

Second. Give out the breath through the nostrils, — 
two counts. Inhale a deep breath, — two counts, Eepeat 
from first movement. 

The blows must be light and gentle for the first few 
weeks of practice ; and may be gradually increased in 
force, but must never be rigid and jarring. 



III. Chest Expansion. 

Elbows sharply bent and close to the side ; fore-arm 
horizontal ; fists clenched, palms upward. Take a deep 

inspiration. Hold the breath. 

First. Extend the arms full 
length forward, relaxing the 
muscles and opening the hands. 
palms downward. 

Second. Bring the arms en- 
ergetically back to their former 
position, endeavoring to expand 
the chest as much as possible. 
Third. Expel the breath 
Fi ? . 21 through the nostrils. — two 

counts : take a fresh inspiration,— two couats ; and repeal 
from first movement 




CAEBIAGK AND DEVELOPMENT Of I HE CHEST. 21 




IV. Percussion with Arm Movements. 

The hands fall easily at the side. 
Take a full breath. 

First Swing the arms from the 
shoulder alternately, with slack 
joints, giving elastic blows upon the 
lungs, striking with the flat of the 
fingers just below the collar-bone. 
The right hand strikes upon the 
left lung, and the left hand upon 
the right lung. Give two blows 
with each hand. 

Second. Exhale and inhale the 
breath as in the preceding exere> Fig. 22. 

. V. >Sho>i!Jer Movements. 

Anns falling easily at the side. Take a full breath. 

First. Bring the shoulders forward and inward, con- 
tracting the chest. 

Second. Throw the shoulders back and down, expand- 
ing the chest. — Repeat these two movements. 

Third. Expiration and inspiration of the breath as in 
preceding exer^ 

V I . Sh > 1 kler Movemen is. — Ben t A rms. 

Clenched fists at the side of the shoulders, palms forward, 
fore-arms vertical. 

First. Bring the open hands. 
palms inward, so as to touch 
each other about three inches in 
front of the chin. 

Second. Throw the fore-anus 
back to the side as in the com- 
mencing position, fists clenched, 
palms outward. — Repeat. **• 2S - 

l Change the breath as in the preceding. 




22 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 




VII. Extension Movement. 

Standing position. 

First. Arms extended 
horizontally forward, the 
middle fingers touching at 
the points, — forming a 



graceful curve. 



Fig. 24. 



Second. Raise the arms 
to an angle of forty-five de- 
grees from the level of the 
shoulders. 

Third. Raise the arms, 
fingers touching, directly 
above the head. 

Fourth. Cany the arms, 
fingers still touching, as 
far backward as possible, 
thumbs pointing to the rear, 
elbows pressed back, shoul- 
ders kept down, and head 
erect. 
Fifth. Extend the arms as straight and as far back- 
ward as possible, at an elevation of forty-five degrees. 

Sixth. Carry the arms backward and downward till 
they reach the level of the shoulders. 

Seventh. Continue the movement with straight arms half- 
way downward, keeping the head erect and chest expanded. 
Eighth. Arms return gradually to their position at the 
side. 

This exercise may be practised also with a continuous 
movement, without stopping at the various positions indi- 
cated above. 

It may also be practised with the head turned to the 
right or left, while the body is kept square to the front. 



CARRIAGE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHEST. 23 




Fig. 25. 

This is a severe movement, and should not be repeated 
more than two or three times in succession, till the pupil 
has acquired some proficiency. 

VIII. Circular Movement with bent Arms. 

Position. 

Touch the shoulders lightly 
with the tips of the fingers. 

First. Bring the elbows for- 
ward in front of the body. 

Second. Lift the elbows as 
high as possible. 

Third. Throw the elbows 
back, — the fingers still touch- 
ing the shoulders. 

Fourth. Carry the elbows around to the commencing 
position, meanwhile expanding the chest. 




Fig. 26. 



24 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



CHAPTEE V 



BREATHING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LUNGS. 




Fig. 27 



Breathing with Arm Movements. 

Position. 

First. Bring the tips of the 
fingers to the shoulders, inhal- 
ing the breath through the nos- 
trils at the same time. 

Second. Strike downward and 
forward, clenching the fists with 
palms front, and expelling the 
breath through the nostrils with 
the movement. 

The breath must be expelled 
by the action of the diaphragm 
and its auxiliary muscles of the 
waist and abdomen. This will 
naturally be the case if the pu- 
pil makes a decisive motion of 
the arms and clenches the fists. 



II. Deep Breathing. 

Position. Arms akimbo. 

First. Inhale a deep breath slowly and tranquilly 
through the nostrils, taking care not to raise the shoulders. 

Second. Give out the breath tranquilly through the 
nostrils, holding the chest expanded with easy firmness. 



BREATHING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LUNGS. 25 



III. Abdominal Breathing. 

Position as in preceding exer- 
cise. 

First. Inhale through the nostrils. 
The walls of the abdomen are thrown 
outward and become convex. 

Second. Expel the breath through 
the nostrils. The abdominal walls 
are drawn inward and flattened. 




Fig. 28. 



IV. Costal Breathing, 

Place the palms of the hands 
against the lower ribs. 

First. Inhale through the nos- 
trils, and expand the waist side- 
wise as much as possible. 

Second. Expel the breath by 
contracting the waist sidewise. 
This contraction may be aided In- 
pressing with the palms against 
the lower ribs. 




V. Dor snl Breathing. 

Hands at the waist, thumbs forward and fingers pressing 
upon the small of the back, each side of the spine. 

First. Direct the will to the muscles on which the fin- 
gers are resting, and throw them outward as much as pos- 
sible, while inhaling the breath. 

Second. Draw these muscles inward to expel the breath. 
The movement of the muscles of the back will naturally be 
much less than that of the abdominal muscles ; and the^ 
are mutually dependent. 



26 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

VI. Waist Breathing. 

Hands at the waist, fingers forward. 

First. Inhale, and expand the waist in all directions, aa 
if trying to burst a belt. 

Second. Contract the whole waist and expel the breath. 
Do not allow the upper part of the chest to collapse. 

VII. Seizing the Breath. 

First. Inhale through the nostrils. 

Second. Hold the breath a moment with a slight effort 
similar to that made in lifting a heavy weight. The mus- 
cles of the waist and abdomen will be firm and elastic like a 
diTun-head. 

Third. Give out the breath as you please. 

VIII. Expulsive Breathing. 

First. Inhale through the nostrils. 
Second. Expel through the mouth as if whispering the 
syllable Hoo ! to a person at a distance. 

Give out the breath in a firm and full column. 

IX. Abrupt Breathing. 

First. Catch the breath quickly through the nostrils. 
Second. Emit the breath with a sudden brief whisper, — 
Hoo! 

X. Effusive Breathing. 
First. Inhale a full breath. 

Second. Exhale through the open mouth in the most 
gradual manner in a prolonged sound of the letter h, mak- 
ing a gentle breathing murmur, as of a sea-shell when held 
to the ear. The expiration may thus be prolonged from 
twenty to forty seconds. Never carry the exercise to any 
painful or fatiguing extent. 



BREATHING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LUNGS. 27 



XL Rapid Breathing. 

Breathe rapidly and gently through the open mouth, 
taking care to impel the breath from the base of the lungs. 
There will be a slight, elastic motion of the front muscles 
of the body, at the point indicated by the letter D, fig. 28. 

XII. Prolonged Breathing. 

First. Draw in the breath through the contracted lips 
as slowly and with as little effort as possible. 

Second. Breathe out the air through the nearly closed 
lips slowly and gradually. 

XIII. Unequal Breathing, 

Place the palm of the left hand 
against the side, close under the 
arm-pit. Bend the right arm di- 
rectly above the head. 

Practise deep breathing in this 
position. 

Reverse the positions of the arms 
and repeat. 

It will be understood that, in all 
modes of breathing, the diaphragm — 
indicated by the dotted lines across 
Figs. 28 and 29 — performs an impor- 
tant part. It is drawn downward and 
flattened in inspiration, and curves 
upward in expiration of the breath. 

" The amount of work a person 
can do is not so much dependent on 
his muscle as on his breathing capacity." 

" The amount of oxygen received into the system Is de- 
termined in a great measure by the capacity of the chest 
and the de<n-ce of the mobility of its walls." 




rig. 30. 



23 



PHYSICAL A.ND YuCAL TRAINING. 



CHAPTEE VI 



CONTROL OF THE ORGANS OF THE THROAT. 




Fig. 31. 



I. Raising the Soft Palate. 

The veil of the palate makes a sort of 
curtain at the back of the mouth, and 
fomis a partition between the mouth 
below and the nasal passages above it. 
When it is raised as high as possible, it 
closes the opening from the back of the 
mouth to the nostrils, and the vocal 
current passes out entirely through the 
mouth. When it is allowed to fall upon 

the tongue, the passage to the mouth is closed, and the 

vocal current escapes by the nostrils, producing a nasal 

tone. 

When it is partially contracted, the 
vocal cmTent passes partly through the 
mouth and partly through the nose. 
To avoid nasality, the palate must be 
sufficiently raised. 

The soft palate is raised in the act 
of gaping. The direction given, there- 
fore, to the pupil who is learning to 
control his palate is, at first, to " think 
a gape." 
The movements of the palate should be studied before a 

mirror. If the gaping effort should not raise it sufficiently, 




Fig. 32 



CONTROL OF THE ORGANS OF THE THROAT. 29 

a more powerful contraction maybe obtained by taking hold 
of some heavy object and lifting with all the might. The 
palate will lie contracted in sympathy with the general 
muscular effort. The uvula (pendent portion of the palate), 
if healthy, may be so contracted as entirely to disappear 
from Bight. 

Do not get the impression that a great effort is required 
to lift the palate. It is done almost or quite uncon- 
sciously, when the sensation of its movement becomes 
familiar. 

II. Dqyressing the Base of the Tongue. 

In practising the preceding exercise, 
the pupil has doubtless observed that 
the base of the tongue has a tendency 
to descend whenever the palate is 
raised. But special attention should 
be given to this movement. The prac- 
tice of the gape or yawn will depress 
the base of the tongue to a certain ex- 
tent. A more perfect control over this 
organ will be gained by the following 
exercises : — 

First, carry the point of the tongue Fig. 33. 

forward between the teeth: then draw the whole tongue 
vigorously backward, as if trying to swallow it. 

Or, pass the tip of the tongue along the roof of the mouth 
to a point as far back as possible. 

We may test whether the movement is successfully per- 
formed by placing a finger at the front of the neck, close 
under the jaw. The throat will be thrown forward and out- 
ward like that of a canary-bird when singing, thus in- 
creasing the interior capacity of the pharynx. 




30 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

These movements must be studied and practised till the 
base of the tongue can be easily and loosely dropped at 
will. 

III. Raising and Depressing the Larynx. 

The larynx (Adam's apple) rises and falls with the move- 
ments of the base of the tongue, to which it is attached. 
In the act of swallowing it ascends to its highest position. 
In gaping it descends. In singing the musical scale from 
the lowest note of the voice upward, the larynx gradually 
rises. The movement may be verified by the touch. 

The quality of the voice is affected by the position of the 
larynx. If the greatest volume of voice be desired, the 
larynx must be held fixed in its lowest position. 

IV. Directing the Column of Breath. 

The column of breath proceeding 
upward through the windpipe will 
strike different portions of the roof 
of the mouth, according as the base 
of the tongue and the larynx are 
more or less depressed ; when these 
are in their lowest position, the 
breath naturally takes a vertical di- 
rection ; but may be inclined more 
or less toward the lips by properly 
Fig. 34. adjusting the organs. 

Watch the direction of the breath while whispering in 
succession the following vowels : e, a. ah, awe, oh, oo. In 
producing the vowel e with a prolonged whisper, the air 
emitted will be felt striking the upper gums. At the second 
vowel it will strike farther up on the hard palate. At the 
third it will strike the middle of the roof of the mouth ; 
and farther backward with each successive vowel. But the 




CONTROL OF THE ORGANS OF THE THROAT. 31 

student must learn to direct all the vowels to any one 
point, at will. In ordinary utterance the column must be 
directed well forward in the mouth j but certain effects are 
produced by directing it farther backward. 

V. Whispered Stroke of the Glottis. 

Utter with a gently explosive whisper the sound of u in 
the word up. 

There is in this exercise a momentary occlusion of the 
glottis, by which the breath is barred and accumulated for 
a sudden discharge, similar to what occurs with the lips in 
energetically pronouncing the letter p. There is a similar 
action of the tongue against the teeth in giving the sound 
of t ; and against the palate in the sound of k. 

The stroke of the glottis may be compared to a cough ; 
but it is more gentle and sudden. There is no scraping or 
rasping of the throat. When rightly performed, a slight 
twitch of the soft palate, and sometimes of the nostrils, 
accompanies it. 

This exercise prepares the organs for the practice of ex- 
plosive tones, and for the singer's coup de la glotte. 



32 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



CHAPTER VII 



PRODUCTION OF TONE. 



In order to produce a good tone, the pupil must become 
bo familiar with the following conditions that he will fulfil 
them unconsciously : — 

1. Position 

2. Eight carriage of the chest. 

3. Proper filling of the lungs. 

4. Control of the expulsion. 

5. Eight direction of the vocal current. 

If the exercises in the preceding chapters have been judi- 
ciously used, the above conditions have already been mas- 
tered. The position is easily erect ; the chest is somewhat 
projected ; the breath is quietly aud promptly inhaled; the 

muscles of the waist and abdo- 
men are kept gently elastic, so 
as to control the expulsion ; the 
vocal current is directed toward 
the front of the mouth. 

I. Pure Tone. 

Begin with the vowel sound 
oo (as in cool). The pitch should 
be that which is easiest for 
the pupil, — not lower than 




Fie. 35. 




~r nor higher than 




Make the tone gentle, smooth, and musical 



PRODUCTION OF TONE. 33 

If the tone produced is too hard in quality, use less mus- 
cular effort, and be sure to drop the jaw low enough to 
make room fur the vibrations in the mouth. 

If the tone is husky, use less breath. 

After a Bingle vowel sound has been produced with a 
good quality of voice, we may proceed to the practice of the 
various vowels as foimd in the table below. Proceed in 
practice from the easier to the more difficult sound. 

The form of the mouth will of course vary with the dif- 
ferent vowels, but the breath. must take the same direction 

in all. 

Principal Vowel Sounds. 

a as in ale, day. 6 as in old, no. 



arm, car. 


6 " 


u 


ooze, too. 


all, law. 


6 " 


U 


on, cot. 


at, can. 


u »■ 


M. 


use, few. 


eve, see. 


u " 


U 


up, cut. 


end, met. 


u « 


U 


full, wolf. 


ile, fly. 


oi " 


u 


oil, boy. 


in, pit. 


ou " 


u 


out, bow. 



II. Breath-Tone. 

Proper position. Active chest. Inhale a full breath 
through the nostrils ; then expel through the open mouth 
with a half-whispered quality to the syllable Ho ! 

Try to make the column of half-vocalized breath as large 
and as firm as possible. 

This is a fatiguing exercise, and can be repeated only a 
few times in succession without exhaustion. Its use is, to 
increase the power and fulness of the voice. 

III. Full Tone. 

In addition to the preliminary conditions named in the 
preceding exercises of this chapter, the pupil must give 
attention to the following points : — 

2* C 



34 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

1. Drop the jaw as with its own weight 

2. Raise the soft palate. 

3. Expand the pharynx, by easily dropping the base of 
the tongue. 

4. Draw in the corners of the mouth, and slightly project 
the lips. 

5. Fix the eyes on some distant point above the level of 
the mouth, and throw or float the tone, aiming at that 
point. 

Do not in any way force or squeeze the tone ; but let it 
leap freely and joyously forth. 

Freedom, ease, fulness, and elasticity should characterize 
this tone ; for a large share of the faults in quality proceed 
from some constraint of body or mind. 

Practise all the vowel sounds, with the above hints 
in mind, — proceeding from the more open to the close 
vowels. 

IV. Projection of Tone. 

As directed in the preceding exercise, throw the tone 
toward a distant point. Do this with precision, as if aiming 
an arrow at a mark. 

Throw the sound to points at different distances ; and, 
further, practise holding the tone, as if steadily pouring it, 
like a stream from a hose-pipe, upon a given mark taken by 
the eye. 

If any difficulty is experienced in apprehending this, let 
the pupil stand at the end of a large room and read aloud 
"to himself" j then let him read to another person at the 
opposite end of the room, with an effort to make himself 
understood. In the latter case the voice will be projected. 
An illustration is afforded where a person calls to another 
across a stream : " Ho ! Bring the boat over ! " 

Practice should be had in projecting soft tones as well as 
loud ones, using the different vowel sounds. 



PRODUCTION OF TONE. 35 

V. Explosive Tones. 

Give two whispered strokes of the glottis, and at the 
third allow the tone to be produced with the stroke. The 
sound produced is sudden, cutting, but gentle so far as the 
muscular effort is concerned. There is no straining nor 
cough. The sound pops on the ear, with an effect that 
might be compared to the percussive bursting of an inflated 
paper bag. 

When cultivated, the organs will thus produce a pistol- 
like explosion without any unnatural effort. It requires 
very little expenditure of breath ; forty or fifty explosive 
tones can be made with a single breath after the knack is 
•acquired. 

When a little facility is attained, the sounds should be 
produced without the preliminary whisper. Practise with 
level tones first, and afterwards with slides, on the various 
vowels. 

Perfection in this exercise is to be able to perform it with 
the most gentle and delicate precision. 

VI. Orotund, 

The term "orotund" is applied to the tones which are the 
fullest and grandest the organs are capable of giving forth. 
In producing this quality, the vocal apparatus is brought 
into its most complete action ; the lungs are expanded, 
the respiratory muscles in energetic action, the vocal pas- 
sage, from the larynx outward, opened roundly to the 
greatest extent. The following points demand attention 
in acquiring the orotund : — 

1. The pharynx is expanded. 

2. The base of the tongue is depressed. 

3. The larynx descends. 

4. The veil of the palate is raised. 



36 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

5. The vocal passage from the glottis to the mouth is 
made large and round. 

Perhaps no specific direction can he given the pupil 
which will better enable him to fulfil the above conditions 
than to tell him to make his tone as in gaping ; and to 
keep the muscles of the waist elastic. But as the gaping 
quality will be hollow and sepulchral, we must be sure not 
to stop here, but see that the column of tone is sent forward 
in the mouth, making it pleasant and musical. 

VII. Distinction between Pure Tone and Orotund. 

There is no exact line of demarcation between pure tone 
and orotund. They are comparative terms, as light and 
darkness are. There are no two consecutive moments at 
dawn or twilight when it can be said, " Now it is light ; now 
it is dark." So the pure tone is gradually developed into 
the orotund by increase of volume. Yet two tones on the 
same pitch may be so different in quality that w r e shall have 
no hesitation in pronouncing one pure tone, and the other 
orotund. Pure tone is not necessarily soft nor orotund 
loud. 

The chief physiological points of difference are as fol- 
lows : — 

In Pure Tone. In Orotund. 

1. The larynx rises. 1. The larynx is depressed. 

2. The soft palate partially falls. 2. The soft palate is raised. 

3. The tongue is in its natural 3. The back of the tongue is 

position. dropped. 

4. The vocal passage is narrow. 4. The vocal passage is wide. 

5. The air-column is directed to 5. The air-column is directed 

the front of the mouth. (in learning) vertically. 

Take a moderately low pitch and produce a pure tone, as 
directed above, then change the action of the organs so as 
to produce the orotund on the same pitch. Thus the dis- 
tinction will be fixed in the mind. 



pBODccnox op : 

TIIL The Musical Scale. 
- >at advantage will be derived from the practice of the 
musical scale, in giving purity and flexibility to the voice. 

Practise the scale ascending and descending with slow 
notes, taking a quiet breath through the nostrils before each 
Tote. Also practise the scale with rapid runs. 

Take great care to make the tone free from all huskiness, 
hardness, nasality, guttural quality, or other fault. Let 
there be no straining, no distortion of the features, or un- 
pleasant effort of any kind. Be sure not to waste the 
•a ; the less breath expended, other things being equal, 
the purer and clearer the tone. 

Common to all roiees. High voices. L - - ^ 

____ -_a. 



DL JfHsical Chard*. 

Divide the class into three portions, and let them practise 
the chords given below. Let the first division sound the 
lowest note, the second the middle note, the third the 
highest note : then let all three notes be sounded together. 
Practise thus, loud tones, soft tones, and swells, — the 
latter by beginning very softly, increasing to the fullest 
power of the voice, then gradually dying away to silence. 



yC -- L __. — w z=. v=zl — E '- z: 

:fcjC-g * *_ 5 5 * ^=X 



A — § # — — 

• — #- 



A 4 _ — zj 9_ —rr- t — n 4 ti 

-*-j?L ' __ - 



fe^iS 



38 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

VOWEL ANALYSIS. 
I. Vowels in the Order of their Formation. 



Long Vowels. 


Short Towels. 


1. Eel 


Ill 


2. Ale 


Ell 


3. Air 


At 


4. Ah 


Ask 


5. Urn 


Up 


6. Awe 


On 


7. 6 


[Ore] 


8. OOze 


fOOt 



Diphthongs.* 
U = 1-00 = YOU 



{ I = AH-1 

1 OU = ah-oo 
01 = 6-1 



Note the following points in the above table, and ver- 
ify them by practice : — 

1. The vowels in the first column are long ; those in the 
second column are short ; those in the third column are 
double, or diphthongal. 

2. Vowels in the same horizontal line are made in 
(nearly) the same position of the organs of speech (the 
diphthongs being placed on the line of their initial sound). 

3. The tongue is raised nearest the roof of the mouth in 
the vowel at the top of the column, and gradually sinks in 
descending the column ; the converse is of course true, — 

* Long A and long also have a diphthongal character. — A having its 
termination in e or i, and having its termination in do or do. 



VOWEL ANALYSIS. 39 

the tongue gradually rises toward the roof ot the mouth in 
ascending the vowel column. 

4. The lips are most extended sidewise in producing the 
first vowel ; they are gradually separated, reaching their 
widest opening at the fourth vowel, Ah; then they are 
gradually contracted, reaching their closest position at the 
foot of the column, oo. 

II. Tendencies of Unaccented Vowels. 

The character of the vowel is determined by the shape 
of the oral passage, that is, by the adjustment of the tongue, 
palate, and lips. When these organs are fixed in an exact 
position, they become the mould in which the correspond- 
ing vowel is cast. In careless or lazy utterance the organs 
are imperfectly adjusted, and the vowels therefore imper- 
fectly formed. Some positions of the organs require less 
effort than others ; and it is toward these easier, more lax 
positions that vowel utterance constantly tends. The 
sound which requires the least muscular tension is that 
heard in urn, burr, etc. j and this sound is frequently re- 
curring in the utterance of slovenly speakers, thus : pflta- 
tuh, for potato ; winduh, for window ; whut, for what ; 
indiivisuble, for indivisible ; chariity, for charity ; will yuh ? 
for will you ? etc. 

But deviations from the exact sound of the vowel prop- 
erly occur in syllables which are wholly without accent. 
In the utterance of accented syllables the organs of speech 
nave naturally a certain degree of tension, which makes the 
sound more definite ; but in unaccented syllables the or- 
gans relax their tension, the oral passage is therefore 
changed in shape, and the vowel is correspondingly mod- 
ified. 

The following table indicates the tendencies of the vowels 
when unaccented, or, as termed by Worcester, obscure : — 



40 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

Table showing the Tendencies of Vowels when Obscure, 

Eel o- ;;;;:.• -Ill 

Aleci" • * * fi Ell 

Air^ ^At 

Ah^>*-. .'x^Ask 

Urn rr U-p 

Awe in? X> On 

O o- [Ore] 

o A o 0= FOOt 

It will be observed, from the above table, that vowels 
have the following general tendencies when unaccented : — 

1. Long vowels tend to become short. 

2. The upper vowels verge toward i (short i). 

3. The middle vowels verge toward u (short u). 

4. The lower vowels verge toward do (as in foot). 

Dictionaries usually leave unaccented syllables unmarked; and 
it is often difficult to determine the quality of an obscure vowel. 
The following rules will aid in doubtful cases : — 

1. A, t, or y ending an unaccented sjdlable is generally short 
obscure, as in the words, a-bound, capa-ble, di-rect, py-ri'tes. 

Exception. — These vowels are long when they directly pre- 
cede an accented vowel, as in a-e'rial, di-am'eter, hy-e 'na. 

2. E. o, or m, ending an unaccented syllable, is generally long 
obscure, as in e-vent, mo-lest, cw-taneous. 

3. In cases where the preceding rules will not apply, place the 
accent on the doubtful syllable to determine its sound; thus, 
change lag'gard to laggard', and it will readily be perceived that 
the sound in the last syllable is that of the fourth long vowel. 
Then by noticing the index leading from it in the table above, 
we see that this sound when obscure tends toward u (short u). 

The article a has always the sound of the third short vowel 
obscure, approaching the fifth short vowel, u. 

The article the is pronounced tht before a vowel, and this 
(vowel very obscure) before a consonant. 



VOWEL ANALYSIS. 41 

III. Long Voictls in Words. 

1. First Long Vowel. — Eve, see, key, field, people, pier, fa- 
tigue, quay, machine, eamphene. 

Obscure, tending toward t — Before, event, elegant, petition, 
y, enemy, coffee, serene. 

2. Second Long Vowel. — Aim, lake, vein, day, label, obey, 
celebrate, fermentation. 

Obscure^ tending toward t — Sunday, Monday, fountain, vil- 
orange, cabbage, chocolate, average, — delicate intricate. 

3. Third Long Vowel. — Air, pair, there, prayer, careful, parent. 
Obscure, tending slightly toward u. — Parental, preparation, 

declaration. 

1. Fourth Long Vowel. — Arm, far, cart, daunt, laugh, half, 
calf, father, aunt, guard. 

Obscure, tending toward u. — Dollar, pillar, scholar, laggard, 
nectar, particular, liar, poniard. 

5. Fifth Long Vowel. — Urn, word, sir, furnish, journey, con- 
firm, disperse, mirth. 

Obscure, same sound shortened. — Termination, certificate, con- 
firmation. 

6. Sixth Long Vowel. — All, saw, lawful, sauce, taught, halter, 
false, also, always, bought, talk. 

Unaccented, same sound shortened. — Audacity, Pawtucket, 
causality, auricular. 

7. Seventh Long Vowel. — Old, foe, beau, tone, yeoman, sew, 
cone, hope, holy, disown, most, only. 

Obscure, tending toward o. — Potato, crocodile, tobacco, origi- 
nal, philosophy, apposite. 

8. Eighth Long Vowel. — Ooze, who, pool, group, rude, pru- 
dent, canoe, rheum, manoeuvre, recruit. 

Obscure, tending toward oo. — Prudential, rheumatic, erudi- 
tion, brutality, together. 



42 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

IV. Short Vowels in Words. 

1. First Short Vowel. — It, tip, prince, mystery, been, busy. 
Unaccented, the same sound. — Indivisibility, historical, mi- 
nutely, outfit, discreet, charity, impossible. 

2. Second Short Vowel. — Elk, let, bread, measure, steady, leop- 
ard, bury, said. 

Unaccented, tending slightly toward t — Boxes, duel, helmet, 
riches, wicked. 

3. Third Short Vowel. — Am, sack, tan, carry, plaid, accident, 
alternate, battle. 

Obscure, tending toward u. — A bode, abash, capable, errand, 
balloon, orphan, dismal, capacious, comfortable, agreeable. 

4. Fourth Short Vowel. — Ask, past, grass, lance, staff, chant, 
gasp, chance. 

Obscure, tending toward u. — Idea, sofa, comma, Cuba, Amer- 
ica, fragrance, breakfast, compass, windlass. 

5. Fifth Short Vowel. — Up, much, bulge, blood, touch, does. 
Unaccented, not changed in quality. — Undo, unseal, con'duct. 

6. Sixth Short Vowel. — Odd, mob, dot, foster, forest, wander, 
knowledge. 

Obscure, tending toward u. — Labor, error, orator, carrot, mam- 
moth, commend, cassock, camphor. 

7. Seventh Short Vowel. — G-ore. glory, story, wholly. 
Obscure, tending toward u. — Territory, acrimony, matrimony, 

parsimony, promissory, promontory. 

8. Eighth Short Vowel. — Foot, bush, wolf, should, cushion. 
Obscure, not changed in quality. — Mournful, ambush, hurrah. 

V. Diphthongs in Words. 

1. First Diphthong. — Useful, few, pew, new, fume, student 
mew, stupid, beauty, duty, cue, review, importune, opportunity, 
mutual, institution, constitution, fluid, consume, lunar. 

Obscure, same sound shortened. — Figure, injure, creatuiv, 
nature, literature, pleasurable, verdure, usual. 



ARTICULATION. 43 

2. Second Diphthong. — Ice, right, glide, smile, concise. 
Unaccented, not changed in quality. — Diameter, diagonal, 

triennial, infant/le, reconcile, crystalline. 

3. Third Diphthong. — Out, now, loud, confound, mouth, 
hourly. 

Unaccented, not changed in quality. — Foundation, com'pound, 

4. Fourth Diphthong. — Oil, boil, toy, hoist, appoint, recoiL 
Unaccented, not changed in quality. — Tenderloin, asteroid, 

parboil. 

VI. General Exercise in Vowel Analysis. 

Copy the Vowel Table upon the blackboard. Then take any 
sentence from the reading-book and practise thus : The teacher 
calls a word or single syllable, the class repeats the vowel sound 
in that syllable, and a scholar at the board indicates it in the 
table. Use monosyllables at first; and practise only accented 
vowels till the scholars have learned them accurately. 



CHAPTER IX. 

ARTICULATION. 

Articulation is effected by the action of the lips, tongue, 
palate, and jaws. In order that articulation may be perfect, 
there must be a prompt, neat, and easy action of these 
organs. When they move feebly or clumsily, the articula- 
tion is indistinct or mumbling. An elastic play of the 
muscles of the mouth is necessary, not only for distinctness 
of utterance, but for the expressiveness of the face. 

The following exercises will aid to discipline the muscles 
used in articulation, and accustom them to energetic action. 
After a vigorous tone has been given to these muscles, their 
movements in utterance must not be excessive, or tuo ar> 
parent to the eye. 



44 



I'HYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 




I. For the Lips and Jaws. 

First Pronounce the vowel e, extending the lips as 
much as possible sidewise, and showing the tips of the 
teeth. 

Second. Pronounce ah, dropping the jaw and opening 
the mouth to its widest extent. 

Third. Pronounce oo (as in cool), contracting the lips. 

Then, the teacher having drawn upon the blackboard * 



ARTICULATION. 45 

triangle with the three sounds indicated at the angles, let 
him pass the " pointer " around in a circle, touching at the 
angles, and require the pupils to utter the vowels, as he in- 
dicates them, in rapid succession, continuously, that is, 
without pausing between them. Having gone round three 
or four times in one direction, make a signal for the pupils 




AH 



to stop ; then taking a fresh breath, go round the opposite 
way. So take each of the other angles as a starting-point, 
and go round both ways. We shall thus have repetitions 
of each of the following : E-ah-oo ; e-oo-ah ; ah-e-oo ; ah-oo-e; 
oo-ah-e ; oo-e-ah. 

II. For the Lips and Tongue. 

The same exercise may be practised without moving the 
jaw. Set the teeth at a fixed distance apart, — say the 
width of two fingers, — then form the above-named vowels 
exclusively by the action of the tongue and lips. 

The position of the jaw may be rendered certain, if need- 
ful, by Betting a short stick or bit of card between the front 
teeth. 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL U;.\INING. 

III. For the Jaw. 
sper alternately the sounds t\ oh ; allowing the jaw, 
in the latter sound, to drop a< it were with its own weight. 
The action of the jaw must not l>e rigid, bnt loose and 

IV. F-.r the Lips, T I Palate. 

{ P First. Pronounce the syllable ?/>, bring 

ing the lips in contact and separating 
them with a smart, percussive recoil • 

Pronounce the syllable it. The 
ik tip of the tongue touches against the 
upper teeth, and promptly re 

Third. Pronounce the syllable ik. The back of the 
_ le shuts against the soft palate, and promptly recoils. 
Pass from point to point in both directions, as in Exer- 
cise I. 

Then practise the same, omitting the vowel sound, and 
producing only the slight puff of recoil indicated by the 
consonant. 

The consonants b, d, g may afterwards be practised in a 
similar manner. 

V. Com - n the Order of their Formation, 




A5p:- 


SCB-v 


LlQdDS. 

Nasals. 


P pay, ape. 


B bui. cab. 


M mar. arm. 


VTh why. . 


TV tray. . 




F red. deaf. 


V peal, 1 




Th tf in. myth. 


Th this, vrith. 




> sell, lew 


Z cone. nose. 




T hde. lighf. 


D day. aid. 


X no, own. 

L ' -. fell. 




R roll, 


R . oar. 


Sh shed. •:. 


Zh azure, rou^e. 




H hay. . 


V yet, . 






<: lm, nmj. 


. sin* 



ARTICULATION. 4 i 

Observe in the above table the following points, and test 
them by practice : — 

1. All the letters in the left-hand column are aspirates, 
or whispered consonants. 

2L Those in the other columns are sub-vocals, or voice 
consonantal 

3. Those in the third and fourth columns are liquids, or 
consonants whose sounds can be indefinitely prolonged. 

4. Those in the fourth column are nasals, or consonants 
in which the vocal current issues through the nose. 

5. In practising any vertical colimin from above down- 
ward, the point of contact of the organs is first at the lips, 
and moves farther back with each successive consonant. 

6. In practising any column upward, the point of contact 
of the organs is first at the back of the mouth, and moves 
gradually forward to the lips. 

nsonants in the same horizontal line are formed 
with the same position of the organs. 



VI. Initial C - I Combine/' 



bw 


H 


in 


buoy 


gl 


as 


in 


glass 


si 


as 


in 


slave 


by 


•• 




beauty 


- 


.. 


.. 


great 


sm 


.. 


•• 


smile 


bl 






blade 


kw 


.. 


.. 


queen 


sn 


.. 


.. 


snow 


br 


•• 




bride 


ky 


.. 


.. 


cue 


sf 


.. 


.. 


sphere 


py 


•• 


•• 


pew 


kl 


•• 


.. 


cleave 


*P 


.. 


.. 


spire 


pi 


.. 


.. 


place 


kr 


.. 


.. 


crime 


St 


.. 


.. 




pr 


.. 


•• 


price 


my 


.. 


.. 


muse 


sk 


.. 


.. 




dy 


u 




dew 


ny 


•• 




neuter 


spl 


.. 


.. 


spleen 


dw 


n 


. 


dwarf 


fy 


.. 


.. 


few 


spr 


.. 


.. 


spring 




.. 




draw 


fl 


.. 


.. 


flight 


spy 


.. 


.. 


spume 


dzh 


.. 


.. 


jew 


fr 


.. 


.. 


fright 


str 


.. 


.. 




t 7 


.. 


•• 


tune 


vy 




.. 


view 




.. 


.. 




tw 


•• 




twelve 


thw 


.. 


■• 


thwart 


skr 


.. 


.. 


scream 


tr 


.. 


.. 


try 


thy 


.. 


.. 


thew 


skw 


.. 


.. 


squint 


tsh 


.. 


.. 


chair 


thr 


.. 




three 




.. 


.-. 






.. 


.. 


guelph 


BW 


•• 


.. 


sway 


thr 


•• 


•■ 


shrine 




.. 


■• 


a 




.. 


.. 


sue 











4S PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING, 

VII. Terminal Combinations. 
1. Liquid and Single Aspirate. 
Help, elf health, eke, felt, Welsh, milk; 
lamp, nymph, dreaml ; 
ninth, dance, tent, — strength, ink; 
sharp, fcur/ earth, purse, heart, harsh, hark. 

2. Double Aspirates, 
depth, steps, apt; 

tiflh, fifes, left; 

broths ; 

wasp, post, task; 

looks, act. 

3. Liquid and Double Aspirates. 

Alps, gulped, gnlfs, twelfth, ingulfed; 

lamps, stamped, triumphs, tempts; 

tenths, against, prints,— lengths, ring'st; 

harps, vrzrped, serfs, earth's, first, carts, march. 

4. Triple Aspirates. 
Depths, droop st, adepts; fifths, laughst, rafs; 
lookst, facts ; 
asps, posts, desks; 
satst, patched ; 
look'st, acts. 

5. Liquid and Triple Aspirates. 
Uelp'si, twelfths, milk'st, baft's/, Uched ; 
hmp'st, attempfst ; 

vrant'st, flinched, — precincfe, thinkst ; 
warp'st, dwzrfst, emhark'st, hursts, hurtsi, arena. worksL 

6. Quadruple Aspirates. 
Sixths ; 

texts. 

7. Liquid and Single Sub-vocal. 

~Bnlb. delve, ells, old; 

rhomb, gems, famed; 



ARTICULATION. 4S 



lens, end, — songs, hanged ; 
orb, nerve, bars, cord, iceberg ; 
prism, froz'n. 

8. Double Liquids. 
'Elm, stolen, 
arm, morn, curl. 

0. Double Sub-vocals. 
Webs, probed ; 

caves, saved, bathes, breathed; 



buds, lodge; 
logs, begged. 

10. Double Liquids and Double Aspirates. 
Overwhelm st, charm's*, scorn's*. 

11. Liquid and Double Sub-vocals. 

Bulbs, bulbed; wolves, involved , {olds, bilge; 

hinge, lands; 

oris, curbed, birds, icebergs. 

12. Double Liquids and Single Sub-vocal. 
Elms, overwhelmed ; 
curls, arms, formed, horns, burned. 

13. Double Liquids and Double Sub-vocals. 
Worlds. 

14. Double Liquids and Double Aspirate? 
Charm's*, scorn's*. 

15. Triple Sub- vocals. 
Fledged. 

16. Liquid and Triple Sub-vocals. 

Bulged, changed, urged. 



50 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

MIXED ARTICULATIONS. 

17. Liquids and Aspirates. 
Stifl'st, sparkl'st; 
soften, token, waken'st. 

\ 18. Sub-vocals and Aspirates. 

Robb'st, amidst, width, digg'st, rav'st, writh'st; 
prob'dst, hundredths, begg'dst, catch'dst. 

19. Liquids, Sub-vocals, and Aspirates. 

Hobbles, baffled, rifles, dazzl'd, kindles, sparkl'd, raingl'd, 
rattl'd, titles, twinkles, scruples; 

troubl'st, trifl'st, shov'lst, kindl'st, struggl'st, puzzl'st, trampl'st, 
shieldst, revolv'st ; 

help'dst, trembl'dst, trifl'dst, shov'ldst, trampl'dst, involv'dst, 
kindl'dst, mingl'dst, twinkl'dst, fondl'dst, dazzl'dst, rattl'dst; 

stiff'ns, deaf n'd, wak'ns, wak'n'd, madd'n'd, whit'ns, rip'n'd, 
opens ; 

sendst, wak'n'dst, madd'n'dst, lighten'dst, ripen'dst, heark- 
en'dst, doom'dst; 

absorbst, regard'st, curb'dst, hurl'dst, charm'dst, return'dst, 
starv'dst ; 

strength'ns, strength'n 1 d, wrong'dst, lengthen'dst 

20. Combinations in which the same Articulation occurs twice. 

Act'st, lift'st, melt'st, hurt'st, want'st, shout'st, toueh'd, parch'd, 
help'dst, bark'dst, prompt'st, touch'dst, rattl'st ; 

bursts, tasks, grasps, mists, bask'st, lessenst, nestl'st, puzzles, 
enlist'st 



SLIDES OR INFLECTIONS. 51 



CHAPTER X. 

SLIDES OR INFLECTIONS. 

One of the essential distinctions between song and speech 
is this : in the former, a given tone is on the same level of 
pitch through its whole extent, and the progression from 
note to note is made by distinct steps ; in the latter, the 
voice is continually sliding upward and downward on the 
vowel sounds. 

In asking a direct question the voice glides from low to 
high, and in the answer it slides downward. Thus, one 
asks another at a distance what he wants, — " The ball ? " 
" No ! the knife." The movement of the voice on the word 
" ball " is a rising slide or inflection ; that upon "no" and 
" knife " is falling. The more intense the question and 
reply, the further up and down would the voice run. 

In sad or plaintive utterance the slide becomes semitonic 
or minor. In irony or in double-meaning, the voice waves 
upward and downward on the same sound, producing the 
circumflex slide, — named rising or falling, according as the 
voice moves up or down at its close. 

In the expression of awe and sublimity, and in emotions 
implying vastness and force, the voice usually has a level 
movement from note to note, " like the repeated sounds of a 
deep-toned bell." This intonation in speaking is termed the 
monotone. 

Including the monotone, we have therefore the following 
forms of inflection, upon which the pupil should be drilled, 
with vowels and words : — 



52 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

1. Common or major slides, — rising and falling. 

2. Semitonic or minor slides, — rising and falling. 

3. Circimiflex slides, — rising and falling. 

4. Monotone. 

The following exercises will practically illustrate the 
various slides or inflections : — 



I. Falling Slides. 

1. Rouse thee up! O waste not life in fond delusions! 
Be a soldier, — be a hero. — be a man ! 

2. "Halt ! " The dust-brown ranks stood fast. 
"Fire! " Out blazed the rifle blast. 

3. Freedom calls you ! quick, be ready, 

Think of what your sires have done ; 
Onward, onward ! strong and steady, — 
Drive the tyrant to his den ; 
On, and let the watchword be, 
Country, home, and liberty. 



II. Rising Slides. 

1. May I stay here? — I have no objection. You may if you 
like. 



2. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and 
arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the 
number of those, who. having eyes, see not, and having ears, 
hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal 
salvation? 

3. Is not the consciousness of doing good a sufficient re- 
ward ? 



SLIDES OR INFLECTIONS. 53 

III. Ruing and Failing Slides. 

1. Sfnk or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my 
hand and my heart to this vote. 

2. Prince Henry. What's the matter? 

Fa/staff'- What 's the matter ? Here be four of us hare 
taken a thousand pounds this morning. 

Prince Henri/. Where is it. -hick, where is it? 
Falstaff. Where fs it? Taken from us, it is. 

3. They tell us, sir, that we are weak, — unable to cope with 
so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? 
Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when 
we are totally disarmed ; and when a British guard shall be sta- 
tioned in every house ? Shall we gather strength by irresolution 
and inaction ? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance 
by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phan- 
tom of hope, until our enemy shall have bound us hand and 
loot ? — Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those 
means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. 

IV. Minor Rising Slides. 

1. Give me three grains of corn, mother, 
Only three grains of corn. 

2. Oh 1 pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, 
That I am meek and gentle with these — butchers 

3. my lord, 

Must I then leave you ? must I needs forego 
So good, so noble, and so true a master ? 



V. Minor Falling Slides. 

1. 0, save me, Hubert, save me I My eyes are out 
Even with the fierce lodks of the bloody men. 



• r -4 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

2. Ay, and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans 
Mark him. and write his speeches in their books, 
Alas! it cried — give me some drink, Titinius — 
As a sick girl. 

3. Come nearer to my side, mother, 
Come nearer to ray side, 
And hold me fondly, as you held 
My father when he died. 



VI. Rising Circumflex. 

1. It is vastly easy for you. Mistress Dial, who have always, 
as everybody knows, set yourself up above me. — it is vastlv 
easy for you, I say. to accuse other people of laziness. 

2. Do ! I tell you. I rather guess 

She was a wonder, and nothing less ! 

3. The common error is to resolve to act right after breakfast, 
or after dinner, or to-morrow morning, or next time : but now, 
just now, this once, we must go on the same as ever. 



VII. Falling Circumflex. 

1. Oh! but you regretted the partition of Poland! Yes. re- 
gretted ! — you regretted the violence, and that is all you did. 

2. Talleyrand, being pestered with questions by a squinting 
man. concerning his broken leg. replied, " It is quite crooked — 
as you see.'' 

3. None dared withstand him to his face, 
But one sly maiden spake aside : 
" The little witch is evil eyed! 
Her mother only killed a cow, 
Or witched a churn or dairy-pan ; 
But she. forsooth, must charm a man I n 



SLIDES OR INFLECTIONS. i>0 

VIII. Rising and Falling Circumflexes. 

1. If you saiil <6, then I said so. ho! did you say so? So 
they shook hands and were sworn brothers. 

2. Now, in building of chaises, I tell you what, 
There is always somewhere a weakest spot; 
And that 's the reason, beyond a doubt, 
A chaise breaks down, but does n't wear fiat 

3. He. I warrant him, 

Believed in no other gods than those of the creed ; 
Bowed to no idols — but his money-bags ; 
Swore no false oaths — except at the custom-house ; 
Kept the Sabbath — idle; built a monument 
To honor his — dead lather. 



IX. Monotone. 

1. Holy ! holy ! holy ! Lord God of Sabaoth ! 

2. The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, 
The solemn temples, the great globe itself, — 
Tea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, 

And, like this unsubstantial pageant, faded, — 
Leave not a rack behind. 

3. In all time, 

Calm or convulsed, — in breeze, or gale, or storm, — 
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime 
Dark heaving; — boundless, endless, and sublime, - 
The image of Eternity, — the throne 

Of the Invisible ; — .... 
.... thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone. 



56 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



CHAPTER XL 

QUALITY OF VOICE. 

This chapter may be considered supplementary to that 
on the Production of Tone ; and, if preferred, may be prac- 
tised in connection with that. Examples are given of the 
application of the different qualities of voice, — including 
the whisper, — which are used in ordinary reading. These 
are all that are needed by the pupil, except for some forms 
of personation and dramatic representation, which would re- 
quire certain faulty qualities not tending to improve the voice. 

Good taste will guide the application of the various vocal 
qualities ; but the following general principles may be laid 
down : — 

1. Pure tone is used in unimpassioned discourse; in the 
expression of light and agreeable emotions ; and in sadness 
or grief when not mingled with solemnity. 

2. Orotund is used to express whatever is grand, vast, or 
sublime. 

3. Aspirated quality expresses secrecy, fear, darkness, or 
moral impurity. 

4. The Whisper has expressive power similar to that of 
the aspirated quality of voice. It is seldom employed in 
reading or speaking ; but should be practised as an exercise 
to strengthen the organs of speech. 

I. Whispering. 

1. " Is all prepared ? — speak soft and low." 
" All ready ! we have sent the men, 
As you appointed, to the place." 



QUALITY OF VOICE. 57 

2. All silent they went, for the time was approaching, 
The moon the blue zenith already was touching ; 
No foot was abroad on the forest or hill, 
No sound but the lullaby sung by the rill. 

3. Hark ! I hear the bugles of the enemy ! They are on 
their march along the bank of the river. We must retreat in- 
stantly, or be cut off" from our boats. I see the head of their 
column already rising over the height. Our only safety is in the 
screen of this hedge. Keep close to it ; be silent ; and stoop as 
you run. For the boats ! Forward ! 



II. Half-Whisper, or Aspirated Tone. 

1. And the bride-maidens whispered, " 'T were better, by far, 
To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar." 

2. " Silence ! " in undertones they cry, 

" No whisper ! — not a breath ! 
The sound that warns thy comrades nigh 
Shall sentence thee to death." 

3. And once behind a rick of barley, 
Thus looking out did Harry stand ; 
The moon was full, and shining clearly, 
And crisp with frost the stubble land. — 
He hears a noise — he 's all awake — 
Again ! On tip-toe down the hill 

He softly creeps. 



III. Pure Tone. 

Oh, young Lochinvar is come out of the west, — 
Through all the wide border his steed was the best ; 
And save his good broadsword he weapon had none, — 
He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone. 
So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, 
There never was knight like the young Lochinvar. 
3* 



58 PHYSICAL AM) VOCAL TRAINING. 

2. How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank; 
Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music 
Creep in our ears ; soft stillness and the night 
Become the touches of sweet harmony. 

3. The splendor falls on castle walls, 
And snowy summits old in story ; 
The long light shakes across the lakes, 
And the wild cataract leaps in glory. 



IV. Orotund. 

1. thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers 1 
whence are thy beams, Sun ! thy everlasting light ? 

2. I would call upon all the true sons of New England to co- 
operate with the laws of man and the justice of Heaven. 

3. Rise, like a cloud of incense, from the earth ! 
Thou kingly spirit, throned among the hills, 
Thou dread ambassador from earth to heaven, 
Great hierarch ! tell thou the silent sky, 
And tell the stars, and tell yon rising sun, 
Earth, with her thousand voices, praises G-od. 



V. Aspirated Orotund. 

1. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, 
And all the air a solemn stillness holds. 

2. The tombs 

And monumental caves of death look cold, 
And shoot a dullness to my trembling heart. 

3. T see the smoke of the furnaces where manacles and fetters 
are still forged for human limbs. I see the visages of those who 
by stealth and at midnight labor in this work of hell, foul and 
dark, as may become the artificers of such instruments of misery 
and torture. 



FORCE. 



CHAPTER XII. 

FORCE. 

The voice should be exercised upon the in all 

degrees of force, from the gentlest to the most vehement. 
The hint is here repeated that the loudest tones must be 
made in such a manner as not to rasp the throat. So far 
from producing any unpleasant sensation, the right kind of 
practice will have a pleasant and exhilarating effect. 

Seek to make the sounds always smooth and musical ; 
and never lose sight of the fact that what is wanted in 
every-day use of the voice, in the school-room or elsewhere, 
is a pleasant and natural intonation. The practice of loud 
and sustained tones is an excellent means of improving the 
voice : but is to be the exception, not the rule, in ordinarv 
readi: _ Still less should a shouting tone be used in con- 
ducting a recitation, or in the ordinary discipline of a class. 
Yet the softest tone must be elastic and full of life, not dull 
and leaden. 

The degree of force required in reading a given passage 
depends upon the space to be filled by the readers voice or 
the distance it inust reach ; upon the number of persons 
presumed to be addressed, and upon the emotion expressed. 

I. GtmUe. 

1. Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea, 
A rivulet, then a river : 
] more by thee my steps shall be, 
rever and forever. 



60 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

2. hark, hear! how thin and clear, 

And thinner, clearer, farther going; 
sweet and far, from cliff and scar, 
The horns of Elf-land faintly blowing. 

3. Tread lightly, comrades ! — we have laid 

II is dark locks on his brow — 
Like life — save deeper light and shade — 
We '11 not disturb them now. 



II. Moderate. 

1. What causes first in English halls combined 

To free the voice ? — those which first freed the mind. 

2. The longer I live, the more I am certain that the great dif- 
ference between men, between the feeble and the powerful, the 
great and the insignificant, is energy, invincible determination. 

3. Listen, my children, and you shall hear 
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. 



III. Loud. 

1. The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. 
And since the war must go on, why put off longer the Declara- 
tion of Independence ? 

2. " Victoria ! " sounds the trumpet, 

" Victoria ! " all around ; 

"Victoria! " like loud thunder 

It runs along the ground. 

3. Who is the man that, in addition to the disgraces and 
mischiefs of the war, has dared to authorize and associate to our 
arms the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the savage? — to call 
into civilized alliance the wild and inhuman inhabitant of the 
woods? — to delegate to the merciless Indian the defence of dis- 



PITCH, OR MODULATION. 61 

puted rights, and to wage the hon-is of his barbarous war 
against our brethren ? My lords, we are called upon as mem- 
bers of this house, as men, as Christians, to protest against such 
horrible barbarity ! 



IV. Very Loud. 

1. Up DRAWBRIDGE ! groom ! What, warder, HO ! 
Let the portcullis fall ! 

2. Ye guards of liberty, 

I 'm with you once again. I call to you 
With all my voice. 

3. From every hill, by every sea. 

In shouts proclaim the great decree, 
"All chains are burst, all men are free! " 
Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah ! 



CHAPTER XIII. 

PITCH, OR MODULATION. 

One of the commonest faults, in school reading and in 
the delivery of many public speakers, is a dull monotony of 
tone. This sameness is still more disagreeable to the ear 
when the voice is kept strained upon a high key. Not less 
unpleasant is an incessant repetition of the same cant or 
sing-song. Elocutionary rules will do little or nothing to- 
ward removing these faults. Faithful drill is needed, under 
the guidance of good taste and a correct musical ear. To 
this must be added an appreciation of the sentiment of the 
piece at the moment of utterance. 

When the organs have been trained to freedom and facil- 



62 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

ity in all degrees of the musical scale, the pupil will find it 
easy to modulate his voice in reading. Vowels, words, and 
sentences should be practised with high, middle, and low 
pitch. Having these tones at his command, the expressive 
reader will vary the pitch with every shade of thought or 
emotion; so that a foreigner who did not understand a word 
might listen with pleasure to the play of intonation. Next 
to sweetness of voice a proper melody of delivery has the 
greatest charm to the hearer. 

One who has made his voice flexible, and is alive to the 
meaning of what he reads, will hardly need the following prin- 
ciples to guide him, for he will instinctively observe them : — 

1. A middle pitch is used in unemotional passages. 

2. A high pitch is used in light and joyous emotions, 
and in the extremes of pain, grief, and fear. 

3. The pitch descends in proportion to the seriousness or 
solemnity of a passage. 

I. High. 

1. Ring out the old. ring in the new, 

Ring, happy bells, across the snow ; 
The year is going, let him go ; 
Ring out the false, ring in the true. 

2. You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother 

dear ; 
To-morrow '11 be the happiest time of all the glad Xew-Year ; 
Of all the glad Xew-Year, mother, the maddest merriest day ; 
For I 'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I 'm to be Queen 

o' the May. 

3. Cry Holiday ! Holiday ! let us be gay, 

And share in the rapture of heaven and earth; 
For, see ! what a sunshiny joy they display, 

To welcome the Spring on the day of her birth ; 
While the elements, gladly outpouring their voice, 
Nature's paean proclaim, and in chorus rejoice ! 



PITCH, OR MODULATION. 63 

II. Middle. 

1. An old clock, that had stood for fifty years in a farmer's 
kitchen without giving its owner any cause of complaint, early 
one summer's morning, before the family was stirring, suddenly 
stopped. 



2. A blind man would know that one was a gentleman and 
the other a clown, by the tones of their voices. 



3. The very law which moulds a tear, 
And bids it trickle from its source, 
That law preserves the earth a sphere, 
And guides the planets in their course. 



III. Low. 

1. But, whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured that 
this declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may 
cost blood ; but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for 
both. 

2. When all thy mercies, my G-od, 
My rising soul surveys, 
Transported with the view, I 'm lost 
In wonder, love, and praise. 

3. It thunders ! Sons of dust, in reverence bow ! 

Ancient of days ! thou speakest from above : 
Thy right hand wields the bolt of terror now ; 

That hand which scatters peace, and joy, and love. 
Almighty ! trembling like a timid child, 

I hear thy awful voice, — alarmed, afraid, 
I see the flashes of thy lightning wild, 

And in the very grave would hide my head | 



64 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

IV. Very low. 

1. 'T is midnight's holy hour, and silence now 
Is brooding, like a gentle spirit, o'er 
The still and pulseless world. 

2. There was silence, and I heard a voice saying, 
" Shall mortal man be more just than God ? 
Shall a man be more pure than his Maker ? " 

3. Night, sable goddess ! from her ebon throne, 
In ray less majesty, now stretches forth 
Her leaden sceptre o'er a slumbering world. 
Silence how dead ! and darkness how profound ! 
Nor eye nor listening ear an object finds. 
Creation sleeps. 'T is as the general pulse 
Of life stood still, and nature made a pause, — 
An awful pause, prophetic of her end. 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

RATE, OR MOVEMENT. 

Another important element in expression is movement 
Nothing will compensate for inappropriateness in the rate 
of uttering a given passage. As the stately march of the 
solemn procession and the light trip of the joyous child are 
indicative of the states of mind which prompt them, so 
the movement which is proper in reading depends upon 
the emotion intended to be expressed. If the reader should 
ask himself what would be his manner of walking while 
under the influence of any particular emotion, it would 
be a safe guide to his rate of utterance. Animated and 



KATE, OR MOVEMENT. 65 

playful moods would manifest themselves in a light and 
buoyant step, sometimes tripping and bounding along. 
On the contrary, deep emotions of solemnity and awe can 
exist only with very slow movements. Dignity requires 
in its expression not only slowness but regularity of 
movement. Violent passion gives rise to irregular and 
impulsive speech. 

The succeeding passages afford opportunity for appro- 
priate practice in different rates of utterance. Besides 
passages like these, it would be well to take occasionally 
any ordinary paragraph, and utter it with various degrees 
of rapidity, merely as a mechanical discipline of the or- 
gans. To this end practice should be had in reading 
with great precipitation, without losing a single syllable. 
Extreme slowness of utterance is very impressive when 
rightly applied, and the pupil should spare no pains to 
acquire this grace. 



I. Quick. 

1. A hurry of hoofs in a village street, 

A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, 
And beneath from the pebbles in passing, a spark 
Struck out by a steed that flies fearless and fleet. 

2. The steed along the drawbridge flies, 
Just as it trembled on the rise ; 
Not lighter does the swallow skim 
Along the smooth lake's level brim. 

3. All the little boys and girls, 

With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls, 

And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls, 

Tripping- and skipping-, ran merrily after 

The wonderful music, with shouting and laughter. 

E 



66 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



II. Moderate. 

1. Health is the vital principle of bliss 
And exercise of health. 

2. The air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted exist- 
ence. In a spring noon, or a summer evening, on whichever 
side we turn our eyes, myriads of happy beings crowd upon our 
view. 

3. Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, 

Lie in three words, — health, peace, and competence' 
But health consists with temperance alone ; 
And peace, Virtue, peace is all thy own. 



III. Slow. 

1. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. 
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst 
formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to ever' 
lasting, thou art G-od. 

2. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day ; 

The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea: 
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, 
And leaves the world to darkness and to me. 

2. The hills, 
Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun, — the vales, 
Stretching in pensive quietness between, — 
The venerable woods, — rivers that move 

In majesty, — and the complaining brooks, 

That make the meadows green, — and, poured round all, 

Old ocean's gray and melancholy waste, — 

Are but the solemn decorations all 

Of the great tomb of man. 



STRESS. 67 

IV. Very Slow. 

1. thou Eternal One ! whose presence bright 
All space doth occupy, all motion guide ; 
Unchanged through time's all-devastating flight ; 
Thou only God! There is no G-od beside! 

2. Wide as the world is his command, 
Vast as eternity his love ; 
Firm as a rock his truth shall stand, 

When rolling years shall cease to move. 

3. Here, then, is a support which will never fail; here is a 
foundation which can never be moved, — the everlasting Creator 
of countless worlds, " the high and lofty One that inhabiteth 
eternity." What a sublime conception ! He inhabits eternity, 
occupies this inconceivable duration, pervades and fills through- 
out this boundless dwelling. 



CHAPTEE XV. 

STRESS. 

The term " stress " is used to indicate the manner of ap- 
plying force to a tone. A sound of the voice may be con- 
sidered as consisting of three portions, thus : ■ 1 ■ 8 ■ 3 ., 
called respectively the Radical, Median, and Terminal por- 
tions ; and these give names to corresponding forms of 
stress, according as force is applied at the beginning, middle, 
or close of the sound. There are also three other kinds of 
stress, — the Thorough, indicating that the tone is full and 
strong throughout its duration; the Compound, in which 
an impulse is given botli at the beginning and the end of 
the sound ; and the Intermittent stress, or Tremor, in 



6*8 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

which, as the term signifies, there is a tremulous utterance 
of the sound. 

These different modes of stress — with their correspond- 
ing dynamic terms in music — may be represented to the 
eye as follows : — 

,„ r.i^. Ilt ;„„ . Radical Median Terminal Thorough Compound 

In Elocution. Sm ^ g^^ g^^ Stregg Stre§a _ Tremor. 

> O < = 

The soimds of the vowels should be practised in these 
different ways, so that they will be readily at the command 
of the reader or speaker. Afterward, passages like those 
quoted in this chapter may be practised with reference to 
the application of the appropriate stress. It should be 
understood that the full force of any form of stress, espe- 
cially the abrupt modes, is heard only on the emphatic 
words. 

I. Radical Stress. 

As intimated above, the radical stress is more or less 
explosive. For example, in uttering the following couplet 
with spirit, we naturally give the radical stress upon the 
word " up," and its explosive character will be plainly 
perceived : — 

Up ! comrades, up ! — in Rokeby's halls 
Xe'er be it said our courage falls ! 

But when this stress falls on words beginning with conso- 
nants, the effect upon the ear is not so sharp and incisive. 

The radical stress is used in abrupt and startling emo- 
tions, and in the expression of positive and decisive con- 
victions. 

This stress is not always used in a violent manner. In 



STRESS. 69 

didactic discourse, for instance, it 6imply gives clearness 
and decision to the utterance ; and it lends a life and 
sparkle to what would otherwise be dull in delivery. 

Examples of the Radical Stress. 

1. Arm, arm, and out! 

2. Up ! up for France ! the time is come for France to live or 
die. 

3. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and 
that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging 
of the future but by the past. 



II. Median Stress. 

The median stress corresponds to the swell in music. It 
is used in the outpouring of tranquil and fervent emotions ; 
and is specially appropriate in poetic expression. Its effect 
on the ear is more marked on the emphatic words, but it 
requires in the whole sentence a certain smoothness. The 
words are poured, as it were, in a continuous stream. The 
whole movement is gliding and graceful, not broken and 
jerky. 

The proper application of the median stress is one of the 
most refined and delicate beauties of utterance. A due 
degree of it in ordinary conversation distinguishes the man 
of culture from the boor. The latter speaks with the 
thorough stress. 



■&* 



Examples of the Median Stress. 

1. precious hours ! golden prime. 
And affluence of love and time ! 



TO PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

2. So live, that when thy summons comes to join 
The innumerable caravan, that moves 
To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death. 
Thou go not. like the quarry-slave at night. 
Scourged to his dungeon ; but. sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him. and lies down to pleasant dreams. 

S. Father, thy hand 

Hath reared these venerable columns : thou 

Didst weave tins verdant roof. Thou didst look down 

Upon the naked earth, and. forthwith, rose 

All these fair ranks of trees. They, in thy sun, 

Budded, and shook their green leaves in the breeze, 

And shot toward heaven. 



III. Terminal Stress. 

Although this mode of stress has "been compared to the 
u pressure tone " in music, its effect on the ear is more ab- 
rupt. When the pupil is acquiring it by practice upon the 
vowels, it would be well to begin the sound gently, then 
give a sudden impulse from the diaphragm, thus making 
the last part of the tone abrupt. In the first attempts the 
initial portion of the sound may be somewhat prolonged, 
then it should be made shorter and shorter, till the forcible 
part follows instantaneously after the ear catches the open- 
ing sound. 

An illustration of the terminal stress is afforded in the 
bark of a dog threatening to bite. There is an initial growl 
which breaks into a startling explosion. A hiccough or a 
sob will also illustrate the peculiar manner in which force 
is applied in this fomi of stress. 

The terminal stress is used in the expression of deter- 



StftESS 71 

mined will ; in stubborn passion, like scorn, defiance, and 
revenge ; and in peevishness and impatience. 

imples of the Terminal Stress, 

1. Blaze, with jour serried colun. 
I will not bend the knee. 

2. But here I stand and scoff you ! here. I fling 
Hatred and full defiance in your fa 
Your consul *s merciful : — for this, all than 
He dares not touch a hair of Catiline ! 

3. And, Douglas, more I tell thee here, 
a in thy pitch of pride. 
Here in thy hold, thy vassals near, 

I tell thee, thou 'rt defied! 
And if thou saidst. I am not peer 
To any lord in Scotland here, 
Lowland or Highland, far or near, 
Lord Ansrus. thou hast - 



IT. 

The chief use of the thorough stress is in shouting and 
calling, where it is necessary to have a full and sustained 
body of voice in order to make the tone reach the desired 
distance. St: such as •• Oy's ! " "Charoo'!" etc., 

generally afford an example of this mode of force. It may 
sometimes be combined with the median stress to give a 
more sustained effect to the monotone : but its use in ordi- 
nary discourse is a blemish which destroys all the grace and 
beauty of delivery. It is employed in some forms of comic 
personation, as indicative of rude or rustic coarsen— 

The school-room too often affords illustrations of the 
thorough stained, half-shouting tone, else- 

where alluded to, in which recitations are carried on. It 



72 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

is not the natural tone of intelligence or refined feeling, 
and, where incessantly adopted, tends to destroy these 
qualities in the pupil. 

Examples of Thorough Stress. 
1. Boat ahoy! Boat ahoy! 

2. Vanguard ! to the right and left the front unfold ! 

3. Rejoice, you men of Angiers, ring your bells ! 

King John, your king and England's, doth approach: 
Open your gates, and give the victors way ! 



V. Compound Stress. 

The compound stress may be considered a union of the 
radical and terminal stresses upon the same sound. It is 
generally used to express a complication of emotions, as of 
surprise, indignation, and anger. An example of its use 
would occur, for instance, when an officer, finding his own 
menial guilty of some audacious piece of mischief, says, 
" You ! you rascal % " It usually occurs upon words which 
require also the circumflex inflection. 

Examples of the Compound Stress. 

1. "Out on him! " quoth false Sextus; 
" Will not the villain drown f " 

2. " 'T is green, 't is green, sir, I assure ye," — 
" Green ! " cries the other in a fury ; 
" Why, sir, d' ye think I 've lost my eyes ? " 

3. Gone to be married ! gone to swear a peace ! 
It is not so; thou hast misspoke, misheard; 
Be well advised, tell o'er thy tale again. 
It cannot be; thou dost but sav, t is so. 



STRESS. 73 

VI. Intermittent Stress or Tremor. 

The voice trembles in the natural expression of feeble- 
ness, grief, old age : and in an\ B emotion of what- 
ever nature. Skilfully and delicately used, the tremor gives 
extreme effect to many emotional passages j but the excess 
of it greatly mars the effect of delivery. 

Examples of Intermittent Stress. 

1. Oh! I have lost you all! 

Parents, and home, and friends. 

2. Go, preach to the coward, thou death-telling seer ! 
Or, if gory Culloden so dreadful appear, 

Draw, dotard, around thy old wavering sight, 
This mantle, to cover the phantoms of fright 

3. I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness. 
I never gave you kingdom, called you children. 
You owe me no subscription. Why, then, let fall 
Your horrible pleasure ? Here I stand, your slave, — 
A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man. 



74 PHYSICAL AND YuCAL TRALNTSG. 



CHAPTEl: XVI. 

TRANSITION. 

Few writing are - dull as not to require varied intona- 
tions : and the finest literary productions will seem tame if 
drawled or droned without change of vocal effect. Indeed, 
a are often more powerful in their influence upon the 
hearer than words themselv - .en the best tone palls 

upon the ear if continued too long, — if unrelieved by 
contrast. Let the reader therefore seize every occasion for 
change in quality, force, movement, and pitch of voice. He 
must learn to pass rapidly and easily from grave to _ 
from lively to severe. The power to do this mentally is in 
a measure a gift ; but the physical ability is in a large 
majority of instances, even among the most gifted, the re- 
sult of discipline. To understand a sentiment or feel an 
emotion is not enough. Only a perfect control of the or- 
gans of speech can enable one to give these met- 
proper significance through the voice. And diligent training 
is needed to give the organs the necessary faci^ 

Exercises like those in the present and the following 
chapter should be perseveringly practised t_H the pupil has 
mastered every needful var: 



Soft. Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows, 

d i the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows; 
Loud. But when loud surge? ia?h the sounding shore, 

The hoarse rough rerse should like the torrent roar. 



SITION. 



: 



Slow. - some rock's vast weight to thi 

.ine. too. labors, and the words m>. 
gricK. a ours the plain, 

- :>'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main. 






Pure 



- - 
../.it whispers near? 
— The wild wind hath many a sigh 
Amid the foliage sere. 



PlTRE TOXE. 



Aspirated. 



A thousand hearts beat happily : and when 
.h its voluptuous swell. 
I :>oked lov e which spake again. 

And all went merry as a marriage-bell : — 

iiark! a deep sound strikes like a rising 
kneJ 



tauiuju* 



?rr.E to>~e- 



- 



Aspirated. 



Her giant form 
O'er wrathful surge, through blackening storm, 
By calm, would g 

as snow ! 
r now the 
i] lambs o'er a moan - . 

9 s ] proud her ar: 
The main she will traverse forever and aye. 
Many ports w 

. q vain dreamer ! this hour is her last. 



6. 
Gradually Hov those village bells, 

ear 

.^ain. and " 
louder. Clear an d as the gale comes on. 



7 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 



Middle pitch. 



L"W PITCH. 



From that chamber, clothed in white. 

The bride came forth on her wedding night; 

There, in that silent room be". 

The dead lav in his shroud of snow. 



8. 
Loud. Rise ! rise ! je wild tempests, and cover his flight ! 

mbdcid. T is finished. Their thunders are hushed on the moora, 
Culloden is lost, and my country deplores. 



Locd. 



&OFT. 



Locd. 



Soft. 



The double, double, double beat 
Of the thundering drum. 

Cries. Hark ! the foes come : 

t is too late to retreat 



Charge, charge 



The soft complaining flute, 

In dying notes disc : 

7 be woes of hapless lovers : 
Whose dirge is whispered by the warbling lute. 

10. 
The combat deepens. On. ye brave, 
Who rush to glory, or the grmi 
Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave, 
And charge with all thy chivalry- ! 

Ah ! few shall part where many meet ! 
-now shall be their winding-sheet, 
And every turf beneath their fee: 
Shall be a soldier's sepulchre. 



11. 
Locd. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, 

Or close the wall up with our English dead ! 
Moderate. In peace, there 's nothing so becomes a man, 

As modest stillness and humility ; 



TRANSITION". 



77 



Loud. But when the blast of war blows in our ears. 

Then imitate the action of the tiger ; 
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, 
Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rag^. 

Vert loud On, ox, you noblest English, 

Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war-proo** I 
Fathers, that, like so many Alexanders, 
Have, in these parts, from morn till even fought. 
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument. 

Quick asd I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, 
Straining upon the start. The game 's ifo 
Follow your spirits, and, upon this charge, 

Very loud. Cry, — Heaves for Harry ! England ! and St 
George ! 



AjriKATED. 

Puke tone- 
Soft- 
Loud. 



Slow axd 

soft. 
Slightly 
aspirated. 



12. 
Hark! below the gates unbarring! 

Tramp of men and quick commands ! 
• "T is my lord come back from hunting." 
the Duchess claps her hands. 

Slow and tired, came the him: 

ped in darkness in the court. 
'• Ho. this way. ye laggard hunters ! 
To the hall! What sport, what sport?' 

Slow they entered with their Master . 

In the hall they laid him down. 
On his coat were leaves and blood-stains, 

On his brow an angry frown. 



Gradually 
louder. 

Gradually 
softer. 



13. 
Ever, as on they bore, more loud, 
And louder rang the pibroch proud. 
At first the Bound, by distance tame. 
Mellowed, along the waters came ; 
And lingering long by cape and bay, 
Wailed every harsher note away; 






PHYSICAL AND VOCAL J RAINING. 



f odd \Vheii bursting bolder on the ear, 

The elan's shrill gathering the}" could hear, — • 
Those thrilling sounds, that call the might 
Of old Clan- Alpine to the tight. 

14. 

Soft org- Father of earth and heaven! I call thy name! 
nm». Round me the smoke and shout of battle roll; 

My eyes are dazzled with the rustling flame; — 
Father, sustain an untried soldier's souL 
Or life, or death, whatever be the goal 
That crowns or closes round the struggling hour, 

Thou knowest, if ever from my spirit stole 
One deeper prayer, t was that no cloud might lower 
On my young fame ! — O hear ! God of eternal power. 

U>ud oro- Now for the fight — now for the cannon peal — 
tdhd. Forward — through blood and toil and cloud and 

fire! 
G-lorious the shout, the shock, the crash oi 1 steel, 
The volley's roll, the rocket's blasting spire ; 
They shake. — like broken waves their squares 
retire. — 
On them, hussars ! — : Now give them rein and heel ; 
Think of the orphaned child, the murdered sire : — 
Earth cries for blood, — in thunder on them wheel ! 
This hour to Europe's fate shall set the triumph-seal ! 



IMITATIVE MODULATION. 79 



CHAPTER XVII. 

IMITATIV E M D D L A T I ON. 

" Nothing is more natural than to imitate, by the sound 
of the voice, the quality of the sound or noise which any 
external object makes, and to form its name accordingly. A 
certain bird is termed the cuckoo, from the soimd which it 
emits. When one sort of wind is said to whistle, and an- 
other to roar; when a serpent is said to hi*.?, a fly to buzz, 
and falling timber to crash ; when a stream is said to flow, 
and hail to rattle; the analogy between the word and the 
thing signified is plainly discernible." But imitation is not 
.confined to single words. The works of poetical and ima- 
irinative writers abound in - which by their melody 

vest their meaning. These passages must, from their 
very nature, receive the interpretation of the voice to con- 
vey their full force. The following examples are selected, 
upon which the pupil may practise in making the sound an 
echo of the sense. 



1. irar and P 

The brazen throat of Avar had ceased to roar, 
All now was turned to jollitv and game. 



2. .4 Giant. 

With sturdy steps came stalking on his b 
A hid< -. horrible and high. 



80 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

3. Hum of Insects. 

The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums 
Hath rung eight's yawning peal. 

4. Harsh Sounds. 

On a sudden open fly 
The infernal gates, and on their hinges grate 
Harsh thunder ! 

5. Harmonious Sounds. 

Heaven opened wide 
Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound, 
On golden hinges turning. 

6. Raging of the Elements. 

Such bursts of horrid thunder, 
Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never 
Eemember to have heard. 

7. Running Waters. 

Fountains, and ye that warble as ye flow 
Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praise. 

8. Movements of Monsters. 

Part huge of bulk, 
Wallowing unwieldly, enormous in their gait, 
Tempest the ocean. 

9. Moaning of the Wind. 

While a low and melancholy moan 
Mourns for the glory that hath flown. 

10. Surge*. 

As raging seas are wont to roar, 
When wintry storm his wrathful wreck does threat, 
The rolling billow- ragged shore. 



IMITATIVE MODULATION. 81 

11. Gentle Whisper of Leaves. 

There crept 
A little noiseless noise among the leaves, 
Born of the very sigh that silence heaves. 

12. A Shipwreck. 

Her keel hath struck on a hidden rock, 

Her planks are torn asunder, 
And down come her masts with a reeling shock, 

And a hideous crash like thunder. 

13. Sounds heard in the Country. 

Down the rough slope the ponderous wagon rings; 
Through rustling corn the hare astonished springs; 
Slow tolls the village clock the drowsy hour; 
The partridge bursts away on whirring wings. 

14. Laborious and Impetuous Motion. 

With many a weary step, and many a groan 

Up the high hill he heaves a huge round stone : 

The huge round stone resulting with a bound, 

Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along the ground. 

15. Tramp of Soldiers. 

And the measured tread of the grenadiers, 
Marching down to their boats on the shore. 

16. Language compared to an Organ. 
0, how our organ can speak with its many and wonderful 

Voices. 

Play on the sofl lute of love, blow the loud trumpet of war, 
Sing with the high sesquialtro, or. drawing its full diapason, 

Sliitki' all the air with the grand storm of its pedals and stops. 
4* f 



82 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

17. Boisterous and Gentle Sounds. 

Two craggy rocks projecting to the main, 
The roaring wind's tempestuous rage restrain: 
Within, the waves in softer murmurs glide ; 
And ships secure without their halsers ride. 

18. Two Voices contrasted. 

So far her voice flowed on, like timorous brook 
That, lingering along a pebbled coa<t. 
Doth fear to meet the sea: but sea it met. 
And shuddered ; for the overwhelming voice 
Of huge Enceladus .-wallowed it in wrath: 
The ponderous syllables, like sullen waves 
In the half-glutted hollows of reef-rocks, 
Came booming. 

19. The Witches' Caldron. 

For a charm of powerful trouble 
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble ; 
Double, double toil and trouble, 
Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

20. Power of the English Language. 

Now clear, pure, hard, bright, and one by one, like to hail-stones 

Short words fall from his lips fast as the first of a shower. — 

Now in twofold column, Spondee. Iamb, and Trochee, 

L'nbroke, firm-set, advance, retreat, trampling along. — 

Now with a sprightlier springiness, bounding in triplicate syllables 

Dance the elastic Dactylics in musical cadences on; 

Now, their voluminous coil intertangling like huge anacondas. 

Roll overwhelmingly onward the sesquipedalian words. 



PICTURING. 83 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

PICTURING. 

An Arabian proverb says, " He is the best orator who 
can turn men's ears into eyes." The same truth will apply 
with equal force to the reader. He is the skilful reader 
who succeeds in bringing up in the minds of his hearers 
vivid images of the scenes delineated and the persons de- 
scribed. To do this he must have in his mind a clear con- 
ception of everything he would convey. The pictures and 
personages must become real to him for the time. 

" Think when we talk of horses that you see them 
Printing their proud hoofs i' th' receiving earth." 

So real must the picture be to the reader that he would be 
able to answer questions concerning details not named by 
the author he is interpreting. He must fill up from his 
own mind the outline which the writer has drawn in words. 
Indeed, this is the chief secret of effective and impressive 
reading. If a person having a good voice and mechanical 
execution fails in giving proper expression to a given pas- 
sage, the remedy is not to be found by recalling some dry 
rule, but by arousing himself to a realization of the meaning 
to be conveyed. And it will follow, from this, that as a 
person never thinks and feels twice precisely alike, so his 
reading of any passage, if it is genuine, will vary. The 
essential thing required of him is that he have an exact 
idea of what he would express, and that he then express 



84 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

just that. Doing this, he will scarcely fail to reproduce in 
the mind of the "listener the same conceptions which exist 
in his own. 

The passages quoted below afford opportunity for practice 
in picturing. The pupil has of course done this to a greater 
or less extent all along, and especially in the two preceding 
chapters ; but in the extracts below, the picturing is to be 
made the chief object. 

1. Flag of the heroes who left us their glory, 

Borne through our battle-field's thunder and flame, 
Blazoned in song and illumined in story, 
Wave o'er us all who inherit their fame ! 

The pupil having read these lines, questions like the fol- 
lowing may be asked, to test whether he really had a picture 
in his mind or not, and whether his picture was a correct 
one. 

Did you see the flag while reading % 

Was it a large or small one 1 

Was it a British flag, or one of some other nation ? 

What was it made of, — bunting or silk 1 

Was it a new flag or an old one 1 

Was it clean or smoke-begrimed 1 Whole or torn 1 

Was it waving in the wind 1 etc. 

2. Lo ! how impatiently upon the tide 

The proud ship tosses, eager to be free. 
Her flag streams wildly, and her fluttering sails 
Pant to be on their flight. 

Did you see a ship 1 

Was it a large or small one ? 

A steamer or sailing vessel ? 

What color was the hull i 

Was it on a river, harbor, or the open sea? 

Did you observe the surface of the water 1 



PICTURING. 85 

Was it smooth or rough 1 

What gave the ship the appearance of impatience 1 

What can you recall about her flag ] 

3. Somewhat back from the village street 
Stands the old-fashioned country-seat. 

Did you have a picture in your mind while reading? 
Was the country-seat you had in mind built of wood or 
brick 1 

How many stories high was it ? . 

Did you observe any trees or shrubbery near it 1 

Any garden in front ? 

Were any of the occupants in sight 1 

4. Then the Master, 

With a gesture of command 
Waved his hand. 

Read the above so as to convey the idea, with the voice 
alone, that the Master made a quick gesture. 
A slow gesture. 
A dignified gesture. 
A languid gesture. 

A waving of the hand from the wrist. 
A gesture of triumph or exultation. 
The gesture you suppose he really made. 

5. And at the word 

Loud and sudden there was heard, 
All around them and below, 
The sound of hammers, blow on blow, 
Knocking away the shores and spurs. 

Read this so as to give the idea that tack hammers were 
the implements used. 

Again, and let it be carpenters' hammers. 
Sledge hammers swung with both hands. 



86 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

6. And lo ! from the assembled crowd 
There rose a shout prolonged and loud. 

Give the idea in reading that one person shouted. 
That a few persons shouted. 
A large number shouted. 
The whole crowd shouted. 

Read it with the hard " schc ol-boy " tone, which suggests 
no image to the hearer. 

7. Here are old trees — tall oaks and gnarled pines — 
That stream with gray-green mosses. 

Bring up the image in the mind of old, dead logs. 
Think of a few very tall trees. 
A cluster of small trees. 
A forest at a little distance. 

A. dense forest of grand trees, the speaker being in their 
midst. 

Vary the picture as to light or darkness. 

8. Freedom, thou art not, as poet's dream, 

A fair young girl, with light and delicate limbs, 
And wavy tresses, gushing from the cap 
With which the Roman master crowned his slave 
When he took off the gyves. 

Picture a school-girl tripping along. 

An amazon. 

A feeble, languid person, s 

A statue. 

The real idea intended by the poet, as you understand it. 

9. A bearded man, 
Armed to the teeth, art thou ; one mailed hand 
Grasps the broad shield, and one the sword. 



SELECTIONS FOR PRACTICE IN READING. 87 

Represent a feeble or effeminate youth. 

A strong man. 

A giant. 

Represent the sword as raised to strike. 

The sword resting upon the ground. 

Any other picture that you can think of. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

SELECTIONS FOR PRACTICE IN READING. 

I. Light and Conversational. 

1. Two honest tradesmen meeting in the Strand, 
One took the other briskly by the hand : 
"Hark ye," said he, " 'tis an odd story tins, 
About the crows ! " "I don't know what it is," 
Replied his friend. " No ? I 'm surprised at that ; 
Where I come from, it is the common chat." 

2. Have you heard of the wonderful oue-hoss shay, 
That was built in such a logical way 
It ran a hundred years to a day, 
And then, of a sudden, it — ah, but stay, 
I '11 tell you what happened without delay : 
Scaring the parson into fits, 
Frightening people out of their wits, — 
Have you ever heard of that, I say ? 

3. "Gentlemen and ladies," said the showman, "here you have 
a magnificent painting of Daniel in the lions' den. Daniel can 
be easily distinguished from the lions by the green cotton um- 
brella under his arm." 



^ PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

4. Hamelin Town 'a in Brunswick, 
By famous Hanover city : 

The river Weser, deep and wide, 

Washes its wall on the southern side; 

A pleasanter spot you never spied; 
But when begins my ditty, 

Almost five hundred years ago, 

To see the townsfolk suffer so 
From vermin, was a pity. 

5. Insects generally must lead a jovial life. Think what it 
must be to lodge in a lily. Imagine a palace of ivory and pearl, 
with pillars of silver and capitals of gold, and exhaling such a 
perfume as never arose from human censer. Fancy again the 
fun of tucking one's self up for the night in the folds of a rose, 
rocked to sleep by the gentle sighs of summer air, nothing to do 
when you awake but to wash yourself in a dew-drop, and fall to 
eat your bedclothes. 

6. Little of all we value here 

Wakes on the morn of its hundredth year 

"Without both feeling and looking queer. 

In fact, there 's nothing that keeps its youth, 

So far as I know, but a tree and truth. 

(This is a moral that runs at large ; 

Take it. — You 're welcome. — No extra charge.) 

7. There 's a good time coming, boys, 

A good time coming : 
We may not live to see the day, 
But earth shall glisten in the ray 

Of the good time coming. 
Cannon balls may aid the truth, 

But thought 's a weapon stronger ; 
We '11 win our battle by its aid ; — 

Wait a little longer. 



SELECTIONS FOR PRACTICE IN READING. 89 



II. Serious and Didactic. 

1. "It is impossible ! " said one of Napoleon's staff-officers, in 
reply to his great commander's description of a plan for some 
daring enterprise. " Impossible ! " cried the emperor, with- in- 
dignation frowning on his brow, — " impossible is the adjective 
of fools!" 

2. We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breaths ; 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. 
Life is but a means unto an end ; that end, 
Beginning, mean, and end to all things, — God. 

3. The maxim that no people ought to be free till they are 
fit to use their freedom, is worthy of the fool in the old story, 
who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim. 
If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in 
slavery, they may indeed wait forever. 

4. I consider a human soul without education, like marble in 
the quarry, which shows. none of its inherent beauties, until the 
skill of the polisher fetches out the colors, makes the surface 
shine, and discovers every ornamental cloud, spot, and vein that 
runs through the body of it. Education, after the same manner, 
when it works upon a noble mind, draws out to view every 
latent virtue and perfection, which, without such helps, are 
never able to make their appearance. 

5. Grive us, give us, the man who sings at his work ! He 
will do more in the same time, — he will do it better, — he will 
persevere longer. One is scarcely sensible of fatigue whilst he 
marches to music. The very stars are said to make harmony as 
they revolve in their spheres. Wondrous is the strength of 
cheerfulness, altogether past calculation its powers of endurance. 
Efforts, to be permanently useful, must be uniformly joyous, a 
spirit all sunshine, graceful from very gladness, beautiful be- 
cause bright 



90 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

6. Stranger, if thou hast learned a truth which needs 
Experience more than reason, — that the world 
Is full of guilt and misery, — and hast known 
Enough of all its crimes and cares 
To tire thee of it, — enter tins wild wood, 
And view the haunts of Nature. 

7. Patrick Henry, who gave the first impulse to the ball of the 
Revolution, introduced his celebrated resolution on the Stamp 
Act, in the Virginia House of Burgesses, in 1765. As he des- 
canted on the tyranny of that obnoxious act, he exclaimed: 
" Caesar had his Brutus ; Charles the First, his Cromwell ; and 
George the Third — " " Treason ! " cried the Speaker ; " Trea- 
son! Treason! Treason! " re-echoed from every part of the house. 
It was one of those trying moments which are decisive of char- 
acter ; but Henry faltered not for an instant ; and rising to a 
loftier attitude, and fixing on the Speaker an eye flashing with 
fire, continued — " may profit by these examples : if this be 
treason, make the most of it." 



III. Dignified and Declamatory. 

1. How far, Catiline ! wilt thou abuse our patience ? How 
long shalt thou baffle justice in thy mad career ? To what ex- 
treme wilt thou carry thy audacity ? Art thou nothing daunted 
by the nightly watch posted to secure the Palatium ? Nothing, 
by the city guards ? Nothing, by the rally of all good citizens ? 
Nothing, by the assembling of the Senate in this fortified place ? 
Nothing, by the averted looks of all here present ? 

2. No one venerates the Peerage more than I do ; but, my 
lords, I must say that the Peerage solicited me, — not I the 
Peerage. Nay, more, — I can say, and will say, that, as a peer 
of Parliament, as Speaker of this right honorable House, as 
keeper of the great seal, as guardian of his Majesty's conscience, 
as Lord High Chancellor of England, — nay, even in that char- 
acter alone in which the noble duke would think it an affront to 



SELECTIONS EOR PRACTICE IX READING. 91 

be considered, but which character none can deny me, — as a 
man, — I am, at this moment, as respectable — I beg leave to 
add, as much respected — as the proudest peer I now look down 
upon. 

3. We had a right to tax America ! Such is the reasoning by 
which the noble lord justifies his conduct. Similar was the rea- 
soning of him who was resolved to shear the wolf! "What ! 
shear a wolf? Have you considered the difficulty, the resist- 
ance, the danger ? No ! says the madman, I have considered 
nothing but the right ! Man has a right of dominion over the 
inferior animals. A wolf has wool ; animals that have wool are 
to be shorn; therefore I will shear the wolf! 

4. Silence ! obstreperous traitors ! 

Your throats offend the quiet of the city ; 
And thou who standest foremost of these knaves, 
Stand back, and answer me — a senator : 
What have you done ? Do you hear me ? 
Back, on your lives ! treacherous cowards ! 
Do you know mc ? look on me ; do you know 
This honest sword I brandish ? Back ! back ! I say. 

5. I need not ask this verdict from your mercy ; I need not 
extort it from your compassion ; I will receive it from your jus- 
tice. I do conjure you, not as fathers, but as husbands ; not as 
husbands, but as citizens; not as citizens, but as men; not as 
men, but as Christians; by all your obligations, public, private, 
moral, and religious ; by the hearth profaned ; by the home des- 
olate ; by the canons of the living God foully spurned : save, 
save your firesides from the contagion, your country from 
the crime, and perhaps thousands yet unborn, from the shame 
and sin and sorrow of this example ! 

6. The right honorable gentleman has called me " an unim- 
peached traitor." I ask, why not " traitor," unqualified by any 
epithet ? I will tell him : it was because he dare not ! It was 
the act of a coward, who raises his arm to strike, but has not 



PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

courage to give the blow ! I will not call him villain, because it 
would be unparliamentary, and he is a privy councillor. I will 
not call him fool because he happens to be Chancellor of the 
equer. Bat I Bay he is one who has abused the privilege 
of Parliament, and the freedom of debate, to the uttering lan- 
guage which, if spoken out of this House, I should answer only 
with a blow ! I care not how high his situation, how low his 
character, how contemptible his speech : whether a privy coun- 
cillor or a parasite, — my answer would be a blow ! 

7. It is this accursed American war that has led us, step by 
into all our present misfortunes and national disg: 
What was the cause of our wasting forty millions of money, and 
sixty thousand lives? The American war ! What was it that 
produced the French rescript and a French war ? The American 
war ! What was it that produced the Spanish manifesto and a 
Spanish war ? The American war ! What was it that armed 
forty-two thousand men in Ireland with the arguments carried 
on the points of forty thousand bayonets ? The American f 
For what are we about to incur an additional debt of twelve or 
fourteen millions ? This accursed. crueL diabolical American 
war ! 



IT. Spirited and Emotional. 

1. Up from the South at break of day. 
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay, 
The affrighted air with a shudder bore, 
Like a herald in haste to the chieftain's door, 
The terrible grumble and rumble and roar, 
Telling the battle was on once more, 
And Sheridan twenty miles away. 

Again to the battle. Achaia: 
Our hearts bid the tvrants defiance , 
Our land — the first garden of Liberty's tree — 
It has been, and shall yet be. the land of the free ; 



SELECTIONS FOR PRACTICE IX READING. 93 

For the cross of our faith is replanted, 

The pale, dying crescent is daunted, 
And we march that the footprints of Mahomet's slaves 
May be washed out in blood from our forefathers' graves. 

Their spirits are hovering o'er us. 

And the sword shall to glory restore us. 

Hurrah ! the land is safe, is safe ; it rallies from the shock ! 
Ring round, ring rouud, ye merry bells, till every steeple rock ! 
Let trumpets blow and mad drums beat ! let maidens scatter 

flowers ! 
The sun bursts through the battle smoke ! Hurrah ! the day 

is ours ! 

4. Fight, gentlemen of England ! fight, bold yeomen ! 
Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head : 
Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood ; 
Am aze the welkin with your broken staves. 

A thousand hearts are great within my bosom : 
Advance our standards, set upon our foes ! 
Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint G-eorge, 
Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons ! 
Upon them ! Victory sits on our helms. 

5. Speak of Mortimer ! 
Zounds ! I tcill speak of him. and let my soul 
"Want mercy, if I do not join with him. 
Yea. on his part. I '11 empty all these veins. 

And shed my dear blood drop by drop i" the dust 
But I will lift the down-trod Mortimer 
As high i' the air as this unthankful king, 
As this ingrate and cankered Bolingbroke. 

6. Measureless liar, thou hast made my heart 

Too great for what contains it. u Boy ! " slave ! 

Cut me to pieces, Yolcians ; men and lads, 

Stain all your edges on me. " Boy ! " False hcund ! 



94 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING 

If you have writ your annals true, 'tis there, 
That, like an eagle in a dove-cote, I 
Fluttered your Yolcians in Corioli ; 
Alone I did it ! " Boy ! " 

7. If ye are brutes, then stand here like fat oxen waiting for 
the butcher's knife ; if ye are men, follow me ! strike down yon 
sentinel, and gain the mountain passes, and there do bloody work 
as did your sires at old Thermopylae ! Is Sparta dead ? Is the 
old Grecian spirit frozen in your veins, that ye do crouch and 
cower, like base-born slaves, beneath your master's lash? 
comrades ! warriors ! Thracians ! if we must fight, let us fight for 
ourselves; if we must slaughter, let us slaughter our oppressors; 
if Ave must die, let us die under the open sky, by the bright wa- 
ters, in noble, honorable battle. 



CHAPTEE XX. 

TABLES FOR DAILY DRILL AND REVIEW. 

Table First.* 
Exercises in the Sitting Position. 

1. Sitting position. 

2. Poise forward and backward. 

3. Head turn right and left. 

4. Head bend forward and back. 

5. Head bend right and left. 

6. Body turn right and left. 

7. Body bend right and left. 

* For an example of the method of conducting the exercises — with 
words of command — ?cc the last table in the chapter. 



TABLES FOR DAILY DRILL AND REVIEW. 95 

Table Second. 
Exercises in Standing Position. 

1. Standing position. 

2. Poise forward and backward. 

3. Rise on the toes. 

4. Body bend forward and backward. 

5. Body bend right and left. 

6. Body turn right and left. 

7. Bend the knees. 

8. Speaker's position. 

9. Walking. 

Table Third. 
Exercises for the Chest and Lungs. 

1. Active and passive chest. 

2. Percussion of the chest. 

3. r^/hest expansion, — arm movements 

4. Percussion with arm movements. 

5. Shoulder movements. 

6. Shoulder movements with bent arms. 

7. Extension movement. 

8. Circular movement with bent arms. 

Table Fourth. 
Breathing. 

1. Breathing with arm movements. 

2. Deep breathing. 

3. Abdominal breathing. 

4. Costal breathing. 



96 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING 

5. Dorsal breathing. 

6. Waist breathing. 



7. Seizing the breath. 

8. Expulsive breathing. 

9. Abrupt breathing. 

10. Effusive breathing. 

11. Rapid breathing. 

12. Prolonged breathing. 

13. Unequal breathing. 



Table Fifth. 
Exercises for the Organs of the Throat, 

1. Raising the soft palate. 

2. Depressing the base of the tongue 

3. Directing the column of breath. 

4. Whispered stroke of the glottis. 

Table Sixth. 

Exercises in Production of Tone, 

1. Pure tone. 

2. Breath tone. 

3. Full tone. 

4. Projection of tone. 

5. Explosive tones. 

6. Orotund. 

7. Pure tone and orotund alternated 

8. Musical chords. 



TABLES FOR DAILY DRILL AND REVIEW. 97 

Table Seventh. 
Exercises in Vowel Analysis. 

1. Long vowels from e to ob (p. 38). 

2. Long vowels in reversed order, — from ob to e. 

3. Short vowels from i to do. 

4. Short vowels in reversed order, — from oo to i. 

5. Diphthongs. 

6. Accented vowels in words. 

7. Unaccented vowels in words. 

8. General exercise in words (p. 43, VI.). 

Table Eighth. 
Exercises in Articulation. 

1. Exercise from the triangle. 

2. Consonants, — aspirates, sub-vocals, liquids. 

3. Initial consonant combinations. 

4. Terminal combinations. 

5. General exercise in articulation of words. 

6. Articulation of Dhrases and sentences. 

Table Ninth. 
Exercises in Inflections or Slides. 

1. Falling slides on the vowels. 

2. Rising slides on the vowels. 

3. Alternate rising and falling slides. 

4. Semitonic falling slides. 

5. Semitonic rising slides. 

G. Semitonic rising and falling slides. 

7. Rising circumflex. 



98 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

8. Falling circumflex. 

9. Rising and falling circumflexes alternated. 

10. Monotone. 

11. Sentences or paragraphs illustrating each of the slides 



Table Tenth. 
Exercises in Quality of Voice. 

1. Give the sounds of the vowels in a whisper. 

2. Half-whisper or aspirated tone. 

3. Pure tone, 

4. Orotund. 

5. Aspirated orotund. 

6. Sentences or paragraphs illustrating each of the above 
qualities. 

Table Eleventh. 
Exercises in Force. 

1. Sounds of the vowels gently. 

2. Moderate force. 

3. Loud. 

4. Very loud. 

5. Sentences or paragraphs illustrating each degree of 
force. 

Table Twelfth. 
Exercises in Pitch. 

1. Sounds of the vowels with a high pitch. 

2. Middle pitch. 

3. Low. 

4. Very low. 

5. Sentences or paragraphs illustrating each degree of 
pitch. 



TABLES FOR DAILY DRILL AND REVIEW. 99 

Table Thirteenth. 

Exi /-rises in Rate or Movement. 

1. Sounds of the vowels rapidly. 

2. In moderate time. 

3. Slow. 

4. Very slow. 

5. A sentence in the different rates of utterance succes- 
sively. 

6. Sentences or paragraphs illustrating each of the move- 
ments. 

Table Fourteenth. 

Exercises in Stress. 

1. Vowels with the radical stress. 

2. Median stress. 

3. Terminal stress. 

4. Thorough stress. 

5. Compound stress (may be omitted). 

6. Intermittent stress. 

7. Sentences illustrating each kind of stress. 

Table Fifteenth. 

Vocal Exercises. 

1. Vowels to he given by the pupil, exemplifying either 
of the slides, degrees of pitch, force, qualities of voice, etc., 
as called for at random by the teacher. 

2. Similar illustrations with sentences. 

3. Examples of transition, and giving the reason for the 
transition. 

4. Examples of imitative modulation. 

5. Picturing. 

6. Examples of various styles, as called for by the teacher. 



100 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

Table Sixteenth. 

Miscellaneous Physical Exercises, with the Words of Command. 

After the movements have been once learned, it is best to 
have them performed in exact time. To do this, the teach- 
er's commands should also be regularly timed, substituting 
the word of command in the place of the fourth count. 
Musical accompaniments may be used instead of counting. 

1. Sitting Position. 

Word of command : Position ! 

2. Poise Forward and Backward. 

Words of command : Poise forward ! one, two, three, 
four. Position ! one, two, three, four. Backward ! 
one, two, three, four. Position ! one, two, three, four. 
(Repeat.) Rest ! 

3. Head Movements. 

Heads — Turn — Right ! one, two, three, four. Front I 
one, two, three, four. Left ! one, two, three, four. 
Front! one, two, three, four. (Repeat.) Rest! 

4. Standing Position. 

Prepare to stand ! Stand ! Position ! 

5. Poising Forward and Backward. 

Poise forward ! one, two, three, four. Position ! one, 
two, three, four. Backward! one, two, three, four. 
Position! one, two, three, four. (Repeat.) Rest! 

6. Rising on the Toes. 

Rise ! one, two, (rise gradually,) three, four. (Remain 
fixed during third and fourth counts.) One, two, (de- 
scend to position,) three, four. (Repeat.) Rest ! 



TABLES FOB DAILY DBILL AND REVIEW. 101 

7. Active and Passive Chest. 

Chest — passim ! — Active ! (Repeat. ) Rest ! 

8. Filling the Lungs. 

Inhale! (Full breath through the nostrils.) Expel! 
(Give out the breath through the nostrils, without al- 
lowing the upper part of the chest to collapse.) 

9. Percussion of the Chest. 

Hands on the chest — place ! (Full breath.) Percussion ! 
one, two, three, four; one, two, three, four. (Four 
counts for percussion, then two for expelling, and two 
for renewing the breath.) (Repeat.) Rett ! 

10. Arm Movements Forward and Back. 

Arms bent! (at the side — fore-arms horizontal, fist 
clenched, palm upward.) Full breath ! One, (reaching 
forward, paints down.) two, (back to the side,) three, 
(forward,) four, (back.) One, two, three, four, (for 
changing the breath as in preceding exercise.) (Re- 
peat.) Rest! 

11. Percussion of the Chest, swinging the Aj*ms. 
Full breath ! Percussion ! one, two, three, four ; one, 

two. three, four. (Two movements of each arm ; then 
four counts for changing the breath.) (Repeat.) Rest ! 

12. Shoulder Movements. 

Shoulder movements ! One, two, three, four. (Inward and 
outward twice.) (Four counts for changing the breath.) 
Rest ! 

13. Shoulder Movements with bent Arms. 

Arm* bent ! (Fore-arms vertical at the side, palms front, 
fists clenched.) One, two, three, four. (Inward with 
palms before the chin, then back with firmness — t\tica) 
(Change the breath.) (Repeat.) Rest ! 



102 PHYSICAL AND VOCAL TRAINING. 

14. Extension Movements. 

One ! (Arms extended horizontally, middle fingers touch- 
ing.) Two! (Arms elevated 45°.) Three! (Arms 
over the head.) Four ! (Arms as far back as possible, 
fingers still touching.) One! (Arms extended straight 
sidewise, raised 45°.) Two! (Anna horizontal and 
back.) Three! (Descend 45°.) Four! (To place.) 
(Repeat.) Rest! 

15. Circular Movement with bent Arms. 

Touch the shoulders! (With the tips of fingers.) One! 
(Elbows forward.) Two! (Upward.) Three! (Back- 
ward.) Four! (Around to place. ) (Repeat.) Rest! 

'6. Breathe with Arm Movements. 

One ! Tiro ! (Repeat.) (Raise the arms when inhaling. 
Strike downward, clenching the fist with palm front 
when expelling the breath.) Rest I 




Biographical Sketch 



Lewis Baxter Monroe, born at Charlestown, Mass., 
died at Dublin, N. H., July 14, 1879, in the 54th year 
of his age, leaving a wife and five daughters. He was 
the fourth of eleven children, his father being of Scotch, 
his mother of English descent. 

Lewis showed early many of those characteristics 
which made him a remarkable man and a successful 
teacher. Of feeble constitution, subject from infancy 
to various ailments, he not only kept up with his class, 
but became assistant teacher in the Charlestown Public 
School at the age of 14. With $50, contributed by the 
school committee, added to what he had saved from 
earnings as assistant teacher, he took a short academic 
course at Castleton, Vt., after being graduated from the 
grammar school, but he was soon obliged to take a 
country school at Surry, N. H., to support himself 
and to assist his family. 

Even at this early date he introduced exercises in 
the elementary sounds of language, an innovation that 
shocked the Surry school committee, who bluntly told 
him that they did not want their children taught to 
"bark like a dog or squeal like a pig.'' and gave him 
leave to retire. 

Young Monroe then became teacher in the Xorth 
Cambridge school, where he taught for about seven 
years, when his health gave way and he lost his voice. 
He thereupon, in 1851, sailed to Xew Orleans and 
thence to Europe. At Paris he became a pupil in the 

103 



104 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

leading gymnasium, where his health soon improved, 
suggesting the thought : "If correct use of muscles will 
restore my general strength, would not proper exercise 
of the laryngeal muscles, with correct breathing, re- 
store my voice ?" This was the turning-point in his 
life, which henceforth was devoted to vocal and physi- 
cal development, and he became one of the greatest of 
American teachers in these specialties. 

After a year abroad he returned to America. Later 
he became tutor to three young Spaniards, whom he 
accompanied to Europe, staying with them two years. 
After his return he edited a weekly paper and gave 
lectures and public readings. He took private pupils 
in vocal gymnastics and the art of reading, also teach- 
ing in various colleges and theological seminaries, 
awakening such enthusiasm that Boston for the first 
time became interested, and employed him to teach 
physical and vocal culture in the public schools. 

The following Boston journalistic testimonial, given 
at this time, shows the appreciation in which he was 
held: 

"Mr. Monroe has most minute and profound famil- 
iarity with all the theoretical data of his profession 
and a wonderful power of exemplifying this knowl- 
edge in practice. We know of no teacher who has so 
many original ideas and methods in teaching elocution, 
strengthening the vocal organs, purifying and manag- 
ing the voice, and in demonstrating the laws of gesture. 
The vocal drill which he has introduced into our public 
schools, the principles of elocutionary teaching which 
he has established and exemplified with such admirable 
beauty of force and zeal, have put the whole community 
in his debt." 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

In 1869. Mr. Monroe met Steele MacKaye. fresh 
from Paris, where he had been a favorite pup 
Francois Delsarte. Monroe became an ardent student 
of. a firm believer in. and a conspicuous exponer. 
Delsartism. The Delsarte System furnished the culmi- 
nating development of Monroe's expressional pov 
enabling him to give a tremendous impulse to the art 
of expression. He lifted it to a new basis, gave it a 
dignity it had never had in America, making it a mat- 
ter of real personal culture and not a thing of mimicry. 

In 1872. Williams College conferred upon Monroe 
the honorary degree of A.M. Boston University recog- 
nized his genius, creating, in 1873. the department of 
oratory with him :.- its Dean. The Boston Univer 
School of Oratory became famous and contributed im- 
mensely to the cause of American elocution. From 
fountain-head have gone out men and women who in 
all parts of this country have been worthy pupils of 
their great master. 

In 1862. Mr. Monroe married Miss Adeline F. Os- 
good of Chelsea. With her aid he prepared the famous 
"Monroe Readers." hundreds of thousands of copies 
of which have been sold. He also compiled a series 
of spellers, also several volumes of "Public and Parlor 
Readings.*' He also wrote this present volume. "Man- 
ual of Physical and Vocal Training.*'* a practical drill- 
book that is used by many teachers. Mrs. Monroe is 
(1911) still living. One of his daughters. Miss May 
Monroe, is a prominent teacher of spoken English. 



Reminiscences of Le wis B. Monroe 

By Mary S. Thompson. 



WE are told by the ancients that Theseus had to give 
battle, or guide his chariot, or do something before 
he was judged worthy of being called a god; whereas 
Hercules conquered where he stood. To any, like 
myself, who have enjoyed the privilege of hearing Prof. 
Monroe in the classroom, the aptness of this illustration 
will be apparent. 

Imagine a large room filled with some hundred odd 
people, all eager, some enthusiastic, some noisily com- 
placent; a hum of many voices, a murmur like unto 
what Theophile Gautier calls a fog of noise, as incon- 
gruous as an orchestra tuning its instruments, but per- 
haps less harsh. A buzz of expectancy — the door opens 
and Lewis B. Monroe stands before us. A tall, grace- 
ful figure, a stately pose, the gracious ease of one who 
is at home with his subject and delights thereat, yet 
respects the tutelage he has undertaken. In short, he 
is pleased with those people because they have come 
to learn. The buzz is succeeded by a hush of expect- 
ancy, and we are now about to hear the living utterances 
of the man who stood at the head of his profession. 

His voice, which is a noble one of apparently bound- 
less resources in compass, is here attuned to a pleas- 
ant conversational tone, as unlike the popular ideas of 
an elocutionist as Edwin Booth in private life is unlike 
his Hamlet. As he warms with his subject his voice 
deepens, broadens; his whole frame becomes aglow 
with the enthusiasm of his mind. Yet he never loses 
his conversational manner, nor degenerates into what 
we know as the "preacher's tone." 

106 



REMINISCENCES 107 

But let me advert to some of those qualities in the 
routine of the place which might be called character- 
istics. I forgot to say that when Prof. Monroe entered 
the clock had not ceased striking nine. His punctuality 
was a marvel, with him almost a religious observance, 
certainly a matter of conscience ; for he felt that he 
had no right to squander the time of others. 

The salutatory over, the Professor at once proceeds 
to the opening exercises. They are breathing and physi- 
cal exercises after Delsarte, whose profound and con- 
sistent admirer Prof. Monroe was from an early day. 
The orders are given with a military precision that 
would delight the heart of West Point. His precision 
was like his punctuality, a matter of principle, some- 
thing never to be neglected or slurred over ; and in the 
exercises which followed, the utmost exactness pre- 
vailed in his method, the utmost accuracy was required 
in execution. 

After these exercises followed a series of vocal exer- 
cises delivered in concert, after the examples given 
viva voce by himself. 

Then came a drill which was always a prominent 
feature of the Monroe method. I refer to concert- 
reading. With him it was a far more comprehensive 
work than with any others I ever heard of. Every de- 
partment of literature was laid under contribution, 
poetry and prose, the sublime and the ridiculous, 
tragedy and comedy, from "Hamlet"' to "Nicholas 
Nickleby." 

This exercise taxed the resources of every member 
of the class, for the kindly martinet who stood before 
us would tolerate no slip-slop work. He insisted upon 
as much precision in rhythm and tone as would be 



108 



REMINISCENCES 



required of a first-class chorus practicing for an ora- 
torio. 

Now comes the lesson of the day. The theme has 
been given out the day before, the necessity for careful 
study has been insisted upon in yesterday's lesson, and 
now "England expects every man to do his duty/' 
Here all codes are laid aside. Line upon line and pre- 
cept upon precept in each individual becomes the order 
of the day. Pupils are called upon to define their 
views, their interpretations, to show how deep the les- 
sons given have sunk, what proficiency may now be 
recorded as the result of these lessons. Again the 
kindly martinet holds sway, insisting upon accurate 
statement, dismissing all slip-slop vagueness with a 
shrug, like Coleridge who, when taunted with being 
too particular in accuracy of definition, said he was 
merely barricading the road to truth ; and so, enlight- 
ened criticism, the kinship of the arts, the relation of 
man to the arts and sciences, were intelligently can- 
vassed and considered with kindred subjects. Could 
the result fail to show a broadening of the understand- 
ing, a quickening of the intelligence? 

Prominent among those powers which helped to 
make Monroe the master that he was, might be men- 
tioned the rare gift of interpretation. I know it is 
one to which every tyro lays claim, and one which is 
noisily accorded to many pretenders; nevertheless, I 
still persist in calling it one of the rarest gifts an artist 
can possess. In greater or less degree it is shown, of 
course, by all actors" who have made themselves popu- 
lar;^ that is to say, have shown themselves capable of 
translating to public comprehension what they wished 
to have understood. But the faculty of Prof. Monroe 



REMINISCENCES 109 

was more far-reaching and comprehensive. Like the 
great genre painters of France, who always painted the 
subject in one key, maintaining throughout an artistic 
consistency, so this admirable artist was enabled, by 
the wide range of his studies and his varied accomplish- 
ments, lingual and otherwise, to take what might be 
called an all-round view of the topic. The unities, the 
proprieties, were never lost sight of. Suppose the piece 
to begin with joy-bells, eventually to end in cruel 
tragedy, or heart-breaking pathos ; this great artist took 
the public into his confidence from the beginning. There 
was menace in the opening joy-bells, there was a tear 
in the blithe song which was to usher in sorrow; and 
therefore his interpretation, instead of being in frag- 
ments, as is so often the case, presented an intelligible 
whole to the understanding, consistent and of obvious 
propriety. 

Take another illustration for the benefit of those to 
whom the phraseology of music is more familiar than 
that of painting; and I may here mention that Prof. 
Monroe habitually drew largely from the kindred arts 
in illustration, so that their phraseology and methods 
became familiar to his pupils. We will take, by way of 
illustration, two operas widely dissimilar in scope and 
purpose, yet both equally illustrating what I mean, 
Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and Verdi's "Traviata." Who 
can have failed to notice in the former opera those 
shocks of sound which proceed from the orchestra 
when a crime is about to be committed? Who can 
have failed to note the fact that although it is an- 
nounced as a comic opera by Metastasio, the author 
of the words (and the composer does not say nay), 



110 REMINISCENCES 

that the entire work is so informed with tragic intensity 
as to be called by the critics of that day "the glorious 
and terrific 'Don Giovanni'"? On the other hand, 
who can have failed to remark the hollowness which 
underlies the gay revelry of the first act of "Traviata" ? 
No painted sepulchre presents such a mockery of human 
passions worn to a human chaos. The story is tragi- 
cal, the misery is genuine and universal ; but the music 
is throughout mocking and insincere, presenting a far 
sterner moral than the words themselves. 

I have adverted to Prof. Monroe's accomplishments 
as a linguist. They were undoubtedly of great assist- 
ance, but their influence went much further. I feel 
sure that the stately courtesy which distinguished his 
intercourse with his fellowmen was, in some measure, 
owing to an intimate acquaintance with the Spanish 
language and literature, as well as some personal asso- 
ciation with Spaniards. Likewise, I am well assured 
that his critical analysis and those fine qualities of acu- 
men, which he brought to bear on the subject of dra- 
matic effect and kindred topics were the result of inti- 
mate acquaintance with the French language and peo- 
ple. A special study of the masters of Italian art had 
revealed to him the vast resources, the prodigious pow- 
ers, shown by Salvini and Ristori in their master- 
pieces. 

In conclusion, let me advert to the magnanimity of 
the man, magnanimity in its broadest sense; a trait of 
mind which made him hospitable to all new ideas, even 
to the extent recommended by St. Paul when he says, 
"Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good." This 
was the quality which made him the friend of many 
among the most eminent of his day. His was the hos- 



REMINISCENCES 111 

pitality which welcomed to his School of Oratory, and 
to his good offices, as members of his faculty, such 
brilliant names as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Ward 
Beecher, Robert R. Raymond. Henry Hudson, Bronson 
Alcott, Wrh. R. Alger, Charles A. Guilmette, James T. 
Fields, J. T. Trowbridge, Alexander Melville Bell, 
Alexander Graham Bell. J. Wesley Churchill, George 
L. Osgood, Moses True Brown, Aldrich, Rimmer, and 
MacKaye — all of whom officiated as lecturers or in- 
structors under his masterly supervision over a school, 
the like of which, alas ! will never be again. I must not 
forget to add to this list of able minds the names of 
Phillips Brooks and Mary A. Livermore, of visiting 
committee. 

The sterling qualities, the courtly grace, the noble 
lovableness of the man are sufficiently attested by the 
galaxy of lofty spirits which he gathered about himself 
as warm personal friends and loyal coadjutors. These, 
coming as they did from every sphere of intellectual 
effort and holding widely divergent views on almost 
all subjects, sufficiently proclaim the cosmopolitan and 
catholic spirit which animated Lewis B. Monroe. 



A Pupil's Tribute 



Twelve years after Monroe's death, when Miss 
Alary A. Currier, teacher of elocution at Wellesley Col- 
lege, herself a pupil of Monroe, was raising a fund 
for a Monroe Chair of Oratory at Wellesley, Miss 
Caroline B. Le Row, well-known elocutionary author 
and teacher, in sending her contribution, expressed her 
gratitude to Mr. Monroe as follows : 

"I owe my life to Prof. Monroe. 

"I owe my health to Prof. Monroe. 

"I owe my professional career to Prof. Monroe. 

"I owe all my success in professional work to Prof. 
Monroe. 

"I owe all the intellectual and social success growing 
out of my professional work to Prof. Monroe. 

"It happens— or it has been so ordained— that my 
life has been peculiarly rich in opportunities for doing 
much good and great good. Because I have not neg- 
lected these, and because my work has prospered, I 
know that my life has been a help and an inspiration 
to many others— a life well worth living if judged by 
its results. This I can say truly and without conceit. 
You can say the same thing with equal truth. How 
much we both owe to that noble man ! Blessed be his 
memory !" 

112 



1MI lb 1811 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



